By Ming Xie
Imagine a world in which a hurricane devastates the Gulf Coast, and the U.S. has no federal agency prepared to quickly send supplies, financial aid and temporary housing assistance.
Could the states manage this catastrophic event on their own?
Normally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA, is prepared to marshal supplies within hours of a disaster and begin distributing financial aid to residents who need help.
However, with President Donald Trump questioning FEMA’s future and suggesting states take over recovery instead, and climate change causing more frequent and severe disasters, it’s worth asking how prepared states are to face these growing challenges without help.
What FEMA does
FEMA was created in 1979 with the job of coordinating national responses to disasters, but the federal government has played important roles in disaster relief since the 1800s.
During a disaster, FEMA’s assistance can begin only after a state requests an emergency declaration and the U.S. president approves it. The request has to show that the disaster is so severe that the state can’t handle the response on its own.
FEMA’s role is to support state and local governments by coordinating federal agencies and providing financial aid and recovery assistance that states would otherwise struggle to supply on their own. FEMA doesn’t “take over,” as a misinformation campaign launched during Hurricane Helene claimed. Instead, it pools federal resources to allow states to recover faster from expensive disasters.
During a disaster, FEMA:
- Coordinates federal resources. For example, during Hurricane Ian in 2022, FEMA coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Defense and search-and-rescue teams to conduct rescue operations, organized utility crews to begin restoring power and also delivered water and millions of meals.
- Provides financial assistance. FEMA distributes billions of dollars in disaster relief funds to help individuals, businesses and local governments recover. As of Feb. 3, 2025, FEMA aid from 2024 storms included US$1.04 billion related to Hurricane Milton, $416.1 million for Hurricane Helene and $112.6 million for Hurricane Debby.
- Provides logistical support. FEMA coordinates with state and local governments, nonprofits such as the American Red Cross and federal agencies to supply cots, blankets and hygiene supplies for emergency shelters. It also works with state and local partners to distribute critical supplies such as food, water and medical aid.
The agency also manages the National Flood Insurance Program, offers disaster preparedness training and helps states develop response plans to improve their overall responses systems.
What FEMA aid looks like in a disaster
When wildfires swept through Maui, Hawaii, in August 2023, FEMA provided emergency grants to cover immediate needs such as food, clothing and essential supplies for survivors.
The agency arranged hotel rooms, rental assistance and financial aid for residents who lost homes or belongings. Its Direct Housing Program has spent $295 million to lease homes for more than 1,200 households. This comprehensive support helped thousands of people begin rebuilding their lives after losing almost everything.
FEMA also helped fund construction of a temporary school to ensure that students whose schools burned could continue their classes. Hawaii, with its relatively small population and limited emergency funds, would have struggled to mount a comparable response on its own.
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Larger states often need help, too. When a 2021 winter storm overwhelmed Texas’ power grid and water infrastructure, FEMA coordinated the delivery of essential supplies, including water, fuel, generators and blankets, following the disaster declaration on Feb. 19, 2021. Within days, it awarded more than $2.8 million in grants to help people with temporary housing and home repairs.
Which states would suffer most without FEMA?
Without FEMA or other federal support, states would have to manage the disaster response and recovery on their own.
States prone to frequent disasters, such as Louisiana and Florida, would face expensive recurring challenges that would likely exacerbate recovery delays and reduce their overall resilience.
Smaller, more rural and less wealthy states that lack the financial resources and logistical capabilities to respond effectively would be disproportionately affected.
“States don’t have that capability built to handle a disaster every single year,” Lynn Budd, director of the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, told Stateline in an interview. Access to FEMA avoids the need for expensive disaster response infrastructure in each state.
States might be able to arrange regional cooperation. But state-led responses and regional models have limitations. The National Guard could assist with supply distribution, but it isn’t designed to provide fast financial aid, housing or long-term recovery options, and the supplies and the recovery effort still come at a cost.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Wealthier states might be better equipped to manage on their own, but poorer states would likely struggle. States with less funding and infrastructure would be left relying on nonprofits and community-based efforts. But these organizations are not capable of providing the scope of services FEMA can.
Any federal funding would also be slow if Congress had to approve aid after each disaster, rather than having FEMA already prepared to respond. States would be at the mercy of congressional infighting.
In the absence of a federal response and coordinating role, recovery would be uneven, with wealthier areas recovering faster and poorer areas likely seeing more prolonged hardships.
What does this mean?
Coordinating disaster response is complex, the paperwork for federal assistance can be frustrating, and the agency does draw criticism. However, it also fills an important role.
As the frequency of natural disasters continues to rise due to climate change, ask yourself: How prepared is your state for a disaster, and could it get by without federal aid?
Ming Xie is Assistant Professor of Emergency Management and Public Health at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Anonymous says
Florida could handle it better than FEMA.
Jake from state farm says
You forgot to add:
During a Disaster FEMA:
Instructs workers to ignore homes with Trump signs in the yards.
FEMA, like many other bureaucracies, could benefit from a thorough overhaul. It has grown bloated and overly partisan, losing sight of its purpose while continuing to draw resources from taxpayers.
Laurel says
Jake f s f: Please explain to me how you know the political parties all FEMA workers belong to, undocumented Musk boys told you? Where might I find this information?
Jake from state farm says
Laurel, I understand that you may feel better by interpreting things this way, but it doesn’t alter the facts. If you can’t recognize that the wasteful spending being revealed isn’t due to a bloated, partisan bureaucracy, then you’re either seriously misinformed or deliberately ignoring the truth. How many millions have been spent on hotels and other services for illegal immigrants in New York? I think even you and others with similar views would agree that it would have been far more beneficial if FEMA had directed those funds to the flood victims in North Carolina, who’ve been forced to sleep in tents through rain and snow.
BillC says
@Jake from state farm …but you have no problem with tax breaks for the wealthiest 1%. Nearly 50 companies in the S&P 500, including Tesla, 3M and Airbnb, reported paying no income tax expense in 2023. (Elon Musk’s Tesla was No. 1 , paid no Federal Income Taxes over 5 years, and reported a 2023 income tax credit of $5 billion despite making a 2023 profit of nearly $15 billion.) The 2017 Trump-GOP tax law slashed the corporate tax rate by three-fifths and failed to close loopholes that let big firms shift profits and ship jobs offshore.
Laurel says
Jake fsf: You didn’t answer my question. Try again.
Charles says
President Musk wants to eliminate it. Florida will be on their own then in a disaster. Welcome to the worst is yet to come.
YankeeExPat says
F.Y.I. the Muskrat and Orange A-hole want to eliminate NOAA so Floridians wont know that the Hurricane is coming
The dude says
I’m sure the usual MAGA saps will soon be here spouting MAGA lies about FEMA…
Probably led by the “firmer” vice something or another…
Just know this. Anything they say is, at best, vehemently dishonest, at worst just a straight up partisan lie in the service of their orange dear leader.
Hope says
FEMA was grossly negligent during recent storms. In Florida, they walked right past homes with Trump signs. And we have all seen the lack of help to North Carolina, where volunteers have pitched in and are managing their recovery quite well.
Help should always be available, but something went horribly wrong with these recent storms. Volunteers always manage to do it better and faster.
Laurel says
Hope: Were you in North Carolina and personally witnessed FEMA workers passing up properties with Trump signs?
God, I wish you people would stop for a minute and think things out! Just once, try it. Give logic a shot, please!
Laurel says
Your own article states it was one employee, and that employee was fired, and how Trump lied about FEMA.
*Sigh*
Al says
FEMA gave hurricane saviors $750 to hold them over but gave 59 million dollars to a hotel to house illegals. They also were quick to set up camps for illegals crossing from Mexico but refused to check on hurricane survivors that had a Trump sign in their yard.
This is another agency that needs to be torn down and rebuilt correctly. The waste in FEMA is comparable to the rest of the government agencies and needs to be stopped.
Don't Cull Me says
Having relatives and friends in the areas hit hard in NC and Tennessee, I can tell you – No One from FEMA ignored Trump supporters!!
Laurel says
“…Donald Trump won North Carolina in the 2024 presidential election, securing the state’s 16 electoral votes. This victory continues his trend of winning the state in previous elections as well.” – Duck Assist
Since one employee stated not to help one Trump supporting house, and was fired because of it, Maga grabs onto the story, ignoring it was one employee, who was fired, and passes on the misinformation about the state that had mostly Trump voters. Totally illogical, total misinformation, yet continues to be passed on by Maga.
When will you Trump supporters begin to doubt? You need to see the truth, and grab onto that instead.
S. Peters says
So I guess we should change the name of our country to ‘You’re on your own’ States of America? Nothing UNITED about this.
Laurel says
Musk, Bezos, Zukerberg and Ellison don’t need FEMA. Should Mar A Lago get hit by disaster, the aforementioned men can bail Trump out…again. The rest of us can go pound sand.
Forget FEMA... says
I vastly trust Desantis over Fema. He knows how to stage equipment in advance. Where is Fema in LA, CA right now? I haven’t heard one news story on the good FEMA is doing there, which is weird because there’s no Trump supporters in that state practically so you’d think that they would want to help?
Laurel says
Forget FEMA:
The share of registered voters who are Democrats (46.2%) has increased slightly since 2020 (45.3%), the year of the last presidential election. The share of Republicans (24.7%) has held steady (23.9% in 2020).
About two in ten voters (21.9%) are independents (also known as “decline to state” or “no party preference” voters); this share has declined since 2020 (25.1%). Meanwhile, the share registering with a minor political party has increased from 5.7% in 2020 to 7.2% today.
Twenty years ago, Republicans made up a much higher share of the electorate: in October 2004, more than one in three voters (34.7%) were registered as Republicans. The share of independents (17.7%) was somewhat lower in 2004, and the Democratic share (43%) was slightly lower than it is today. – Public Policy Institute of California
So the question is: Where did you get your information that “…there’s no Trump supporters in that state…? Did you make up that *statistic*?
Pogo says
@The new old idea
The dude says
I knew the MAGA lies would come fast and hard… and I was not disappointed.
Bobby says
FEMA will be gone soon and in a disaster we will all be on our own. Forget any money in your bank accounts President Musk has tapped into all Americans accounts with the bank info and social security numbers so we will all be on our own with nothing to spend money on to fix repairs. The Communist party has taken over our country and the majority of voters are total clueless what is really going on. They still believe President Musk is going to fix everything to help them, boy soon they too will be surprised. He and Secretary Trump are out to make their bank accounts larger and that means not helping anyone but themselves.
Ed P says
No one is advocating not providing federal dollars for disaster areas. The question being asked is: are local emergency management staffs more knowledgeable and able to
respond more efficiently, ie faster and cheaper. In effect, administer relief locally and better?
Big question is what is the fear? What is being hidden? Everyone is correct, we do not have a 4th branch of government— except it’s not Musk but actually bureaucracy. Federal contractors and federal employees exceed 3 million people. Inefficiency is factual. The shear size causes the problems. Trying to end it is not draconian but rather common sense. There is fraud. Will they uncover corruption?
Musk just reported that they identified SSA recipients that are 150 years old. Paper reporting is antiquated, computer systems dated, agencies isolated.
It certainly appears that the naysayers are just complaining to complain. As the rocks continue to be turned over, it becomes more incredulous.
Our tax dollars should be spent wisely.
Musk conducted a press conference with Trump from the white house. Everyone should watch and listen. It’s so unbelievable that it almost can’t be true, but it is. Yikes
Laurel says
“The Trump administration is expected to purchase $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles, according to a new State Department document detailing procurement for fiscal year 2025.” – npr
When will you begin to doubt Trump’s and Musk’s intentions?
Sherry says
OK Maga commenters. . . “If” the states and volunteers could do “so much better than FEMA”, WHY? WHY? WHY? haven’t they already done so for the past 50 years? What in the hell is stopping them?
Sherry says
Let’s get the facts straight, shall we. . . FEMA “FIRED” the one employee who said to bypass home with trump signs. It was NOT any kind of widespread policy. NEXT BS?
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
So I was reading something the other day about our republic which was kind of interesting. Apparently it was designed with no real ethical oversight in mind. It was assumed that presidents, justices, and legislators would all be ethical people that would reasonably argue. “How could this not be the case?”, the founding fathers said. Imagine that.
Anyway, one interesting thing about FEMA is that their floodmaps are what insurance companies used in determining what your insurance rates look like. Eliminating FEMA means eliminating those, amongst other things that are, you know, useful. It’s like eliminating NOAA, which does things like climatology and hurricane prediction. But like presidents, I’m sure that CEOs can be assumed to be ethical and moral people, with only the people’s best interests at heart.
Personally, I think all of those things should be eliminated for a few years just to make a point. Sure, it would make things difficult for my family and myself, but people have survived lots worse. You guys get to see what unfettered libertarianism looks like, companies and billionaires just absolutely shitting on everyone while republicans vote for everything they want and democrats make billions off of insider trading and wring their hands and say “we don’t have a majority, what can we do?” You get what you want, both the democrats and the republicans working together to fuck everyone else.
Laurel says
Samuel L Bronkowitz: I agree with you with one exception: How does the middle class recover what was taken from them? Maybe our benefits will be restored, but with people, whom we do not know, are playing with our Social Security, and personal information, we could be bankrupt.
Ed P says
Sherry,
Let’s start with: my name is Ed P, not maga commenter. I never disrespect you primarily because name calling and shaming is childish and just a tad disrespectful.
The reason local emergency management has to play second fiddle is because when FEMA arrives on the scene, they have the funds and try to coordinate with local groups but in fact, time and time again, they get in the way. They don’t have local understanding of the disaster areas and specific needs. Hawaii is different from the Carolinas.
The staff and size of an organization like FEMA brings with it built in inefficiency. 20,000 employees. 33.08 billion dollar budget. When all the funds that were diverted from US citizens suffering in disaster areas to fund illegal immigrates to stay in Hotels and get fed while citizens are homeless and hungry.
Shame shame.
Seeking improvement is actually a good thing.
Kennan says
Thank you Samuel.
The mission is to privatize everything.
Our little Afrikaan buddy wants that soooo bad. Wants to create his own version of Apartheid heaven right here in America. DOGE. (Department of Greed Eternally)
Jake from state farm says
Where did I say I had no problem with that? I reread my message and don’t see anything like that. Maybe you’re just trying to steer the conversation away from the point, which seems to be a common tactic when there’s no solid response. Instead of deflecting, how about addressing what I wrote? Do you have any issue with the millions spent to house illegal immigrants in New York while American citizens who have lost everything are left to sleep in tents in the rain, snow, and cold?
Sherry says
Dear Maga commenters and trolls . . . as they say, “if the shoe fits”.
Laurel says
I say “if the swastika fits”…
Sherry says
Meanwhile desantis spends federal money any way he damned well pleases:
Over the past two years, DeSantis’ state budget has included nearly $10 billion from the Biden administration’s federal Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, money that the governor used to pay for a wide-range of non pandemic-related programs. Included in those are some of DeSantis’ biggest priorities — and programs that Biden and other Democrats have loudly criticized.
When asked for comment, DeSantis’ administration said they are now focusing on the massive hurricane response.
“Give it a rest with amplifying all the critics,” said a spokesperson. “As the governor said earlier, we have no time for politics or pettiness.”
The Florida governor used interest from that money, totaling $12 million, to fund a migrant transportation program that would pay private contractors to fly migrants from Florida to Democratic strongholds. The governor has already used $615,000 to transport about 50 mostly Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.
Another $200 million from the federal coronavirus funding will be used for a gas tax holiday in October, which the governor frequently touted when chiding record inflation that has plagued the Biden administration. The one-month gas tax holiday goes into effect one month before the November election.
All governors ask the federal government for assistance after a major natural disaster, regardless of who is in the White House. But for DeSantis, the eagerness to accept the money comes against the backdrop of not only being one of Biden’s biggest critics, but also his past record rejecting federal disaster relief for New York and New Jersey in the aftermath of 2012’s Hurricane Sandy.
Laurel says
Sherry: It’s very much like our state, and federal government, are now being run by bratty toddlers, while a good portion of our politicians, and citizens, sit by and say “It’s just a phase.”
Ed P says
Sherry,
Obviously we do not share any political ideology. That shouldn’t preclude intelligent and honest debate.
Apparently you are well traveled as am I. I spent nearly 20 years traversing the United States weekly, taking 2-6 airline flights ( some commercial but many private) Monday through Thursday for business purposes. I have met thousands of people and somehow was able to connect with them in a civil and friendly fashion. Imagine that.
Yet you remain enigma.
Just for your own reference, MAGA or any derivative is not an offensive term or label. 77,000,000 million people voted for change and many more have joined the movement.
However, most are not cult members.
Nothing in life prompts me to join a group or be so fervent that I would move to the radical side of any movement. What you and many people miss is there is a large contingent of people who simply live in the real world. We focus on what effects us and our families. Hence, we like our gas stoves, we enjoy a strong shower, or a toilet that will actually flush. We dislike paper straws and men in women’s sports. Trump has tapped into that “common sense” that the Democratic Party abandoned. Point is many of Trump’s supporters are not MAGA cult members as you tediously reference but are not offended by that “handle” either. So no offense taken.
MAGA Commenter
Laurel says
“What you and many people miss is there is a large contingent of people who simply live in the real world. We focus on what effects us and our families. Hence, we like our gas stoves, we enjoy a strong shower, or a toilet that will actually flush. We dislike paper straws and men in women’s sports.”
Ah, talking points, alive and well. Good ole Fox Entertainment.
Okay, so the ultra wealthy gutting middle class benefits, while giving themselves tax cuts (Trump wants $7 trillion) is the “real world.” So, we should roll over and accept that?
Back to the talking points. We still have our gas stoves because no one came and got them as touted by the right. Our showers are still strong, and often in rain style. Our 1.2 gallon flush toilets advertise sucking down a batch of tennis balls, and I’m quite sure, ours will (you can get these toilets at Lowe’s). There is nothing wrong with paper straws, unless you like to use straws multiple times (do you?) but there are plenty of plastic straws floating in the sea, but that’s your preference, and the plastic straws are still here. Oh, and we still have our guns, that Obama never took away, as projected by the right. As for men in women’s sports, all sports can be sized, just like boxing. As a kid, I won all the local skating races, and even set back a quarter of the track, I still beat the girls. I wanted to race the boys as a challenge, but they wouldn’t let me. Might hurt some egos, I guess.
Want to ad anything else to your talking points?
Joe D says
OMG!
Can people Please get their FACTS straight!?!
The money that was set aside for housing migrants WASN’T “FEMA” money!!! That money was from an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT Government program!!
However….when (since these housing funds go out to ALL states)… the Biden-Harris administration said “How do we set up distribution of these SEPARATE funds?” So rather than set up a DUPLICATE (wasteful) new group of managers to control this distribution of temporary migrants housing funds, they said… “You know, FEMA already has an emergency distribution system in place, so why waste taxpayers dollars creating another management group…why not just “hire” the FEMA program management group to control this OTHER FUND OF MONEY TOO, and save money?”
Let’s put it in simple terms. Say you have a CHURCH group that manages a Clothing Drive….they’ve done it well for YEARS…they have all the people, they know where things are.
Now the Church also wants to start a TOY drive too. So rather than set up
A WHOLE other group to run and manage the toy drive, they went to the Clothing drive group, and said, “Here are the funds and toys for the TOY DRIVE….how about you CLOTHING DRIVE people ALSO manage the Toy Drive?”
Explanation: FEMA is the Clothing Drive people….so in addition to administering the Clothing drive regular REMA budgeted funds, they are handling a SEPARATE “pot” of Toy Drive money ( the migrant emergency housing funds)…the migrant payments took NOTHING away from the FEMA funds!
So, unfortunately, for Political reasons, CANDIDATE TRUMP FAILED TO EXPLAIN THE SITUATION…He misinformed the American people that FEMA funds were being “taken away,” from disaster victims…which was an ABSOLUTE LIE! But hay…anything to get your vote ….RIGHT?!?
Ed P says
Joe D,
Which journal entry the checks are written from is irrelevant. Also,NYC confirms it was 81 million dollars.
Question is, if all the illegals were not allowed into our country, and the need to house, feed, secure, and care for them did not occur, could the 81 million dollars have helped disaster ravaged areas, veterans, or homeless Americans?
Why is that point never in the equation? We are in a severe budget deficit and Americans need help as well. The country is broke.
It’s not heartless or wrong to want to take care of own first, and we are not.
Laurel says
First, Veterans’ benefits are being cut, by President Trump and civilian, Musk, neither of whom ever served in the military.
No, it’s not heartless, or wrong, to want to take care of our own first. It is wrong to wall us off from the world, remove our support of other democracies, and become hated in the world.
My Republican husband’s very Republican mother told him, when he asked a similar question (about human nature in general) explained that when people are starving, they will attack. If a wealthier tribe helps them, and keeps them from starving, they are less likely to attack, and are more likely to look fondly upon those who help.
This is why we have diplomacy. This is something Trump doesn’t understand (“What’s in it for them?”) and doesn’t have the capacity to care.
Sherry says
Thanks you so much Laurel and Joe D!!!
What the brainwashed Maga Cult members do NOT seem to comprehend is that it is “WE” non-cult members are the ones who still choose to live in “Fact Based Reality”. . . most certainly NOT them!
The horrific radicalized Maga trolls will incessantly continue to post their ignorant rants, fox BS talking points, and irrationally twisted defenses of the musk/trump’s crime syndicate regardless of the factual truth. Sure, I’ll continue to post “credentialled factual” information. However I, for one, will never ever take that “trolling bait”. My times is just too precious to completely waste it on those who are too literate, immoral, and insecure to consider for one moment that they just may be on the wrong side of history.
I much prefer to smile while watching them twist in the winds of time. ;)
Laurel says
Sherry: Though I very much agree with the majority of what you write, please do not include me in the name calling. Yes, I do call the politicians idiots, but I try to hold back on the supporters, because they have been duped, but will dig in stronger to defend themselves. We need them to see the facts you provide, without defense.
Please continue to supply facts, it is very important, and a service to us all. Thank you, as always.
Sherry says
More trump administration “LIES” about FEMA. . .Read the TRUTH Maga Cult Members:
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency undercut President Donald Trump’s false statements that the agency spent disaster aid on undocumented migrants, noting in court papers that the money came from a special fund that is separate from recovery efforts.
Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of FEMA, wrote in a court filing this week that FEMA migrant aid is funded through a program intended “to provide temporary shelter and other services to aliens released from custody.”
Trump and his supporters, including Republicans in Congress and Hamilton himself, have spread misinformation in accusing the agency of diverting disaster aid to help migrants who illegally crossed the southwest border into the United States. Hamilton used his personal X account to amplify the false accusations months before Trump appointed him to run the agency.
He tacitly walked those claims back in Tuesday’s court filing by citing laws that Congress — including the Republican-controlled House — passed in 2023 and 2024 to create and fund the Shelter and Services Program, which offers hotel rooms to migrants who were released from federal custody after entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico.
Sherry says
Sorry Laurel. . . you and I will just need to disagree on this one.
I have said many, many times that it is my belief that many Maga Cult Members are victims of the plan by extreme right wingers Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ails to use the Murdoch media empire “control” how leaders of countries are elected. I’ve pointed out how Fox intentionally uses conspiracy theories, propaganda and “emotional” triggers to instill the fear and hate that divides us. Yes, they are victims, but they are also adults with free will. They are often passionate instrumental “participants” in supporting the horrific actions of the musk/trump crime syndicate which is currently destroying our democratic republic!!!
For me, some of the most radicalized trump supporters are down right “toxic” to any kind of civilized society. I’ll continue to call out the incessant ranting, lying, bullying, trolling, name calling, fact twisting behavior by some of those who comment here. The worst of the personal trolls, I’ll continue to ignore because engaging with completely unreasonable, “toxic”, people is a waste of my precious time. Hopefully, you can convince them all to come back into the light of sanity, morality and reality. I wish you luck. You are going to need it.
Sherry says
@ Laurel. . . Sure, I’ll stop including you as one who lives in factual reality if that is what you prefer.
There has been a wonderful group of people like Jim, Skibum, Deborah, Nancy N., Joe D., Ray W., and several others, who for “years” have taken their time to do their research and posted “facts” in the often belligerent face of those who seem to care “nothing” for the actual truth. Sorry, but I haven’t seen ONE of “the gullible” (as Ray W. calls them) become less steadfast in their pure worship of trump.
Personally, I am much more disappointed by those “adamant” supporters . . . like the horrific criminals who attacked our Capitol in Jan. 6th. . . than I am by trump himself. Sorry, I just don’t see them as living in the same, highly principled, reality that I do. I also don’t believe that coddling them and giving them the “satisfaction” of the attention they crave all these years has produced “any” positive results.
While we have different approaches to dealing with the passionate trump supporters, I sincerely with you well in finding the “key” to bringing them back to a factual reality that they apparently left many years ago. As any good psychologist would say, you can’t fix them, they are the only ones who can do that. . . but, who knows, miracles happen every day, right?
FYI: The first rule of dealing with trolls is to not engage with them . By ignoring them, you deny them the attention they crave. Trolls often thrive on getting a reaction, and responding to them can escalate the situation. It’s vital to remember that you can’t reason with someone whose primary goal is to provoke.