When Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in 2016, many felt that it was the beginning of the end of the Republican party.
As Trump's fear-mongering and rhetoric were a far cry from the policies of what the Republican party stood for in the days of Abraham Lincoln.
For many long-standing Republicans and conservatives, it marked the end of their time registered in the party, swiftly shifting to becoming a democrat or independent.
There were also many who remained loyal to their party but their support for the 45th president gradually vanished by the time he left office, in relative disgrace, in January of 2021.
Redditor MeglaManiac3 was curious to hear what finally led people to finally end their support of Donald Trump, leading them to ask:
"Ex Rrump supporters, what point did you stop supporting Trump and why?
A Slow And Steady Decline
"My dad started out from voting for and supporting him and always being annoyed when people talked sh*t about Trump."
"Then the pandemic happened and he spent a lot of time at home watching TV and seeing Trump give speeches, then he says, 'This guy is a f*cking moron' and he became more anti-Trump as time went by, especially after Jan 6."- forgottenmyth
Finding Their Own Voice
"I was like 19-20 years old when he became president so it was my first time voting."
"My parents are both republican so naturally I kinda just followed suit and voted for him."
"Then I watched everything that happened throughout his presidency, watched the Republicans and their thoughts and actions based on everything that had happened and was happening, and here we are."
"Voted blue last election, as a registered republican, which I find joy in, and likely to do so again."
"I hate politics with a passion but some of this stuff is just too f*cked for me to justify staying out of."- BIessthefaII
The Writing Was On The Wall
"I can't explain when, I can just explain the very slow gradient from all but wearing the red MAGA hat to going 'Hold the F*CK on'."
"My initial decision to vote for him wasn't really as a Conservative."
"Though I would align my ideals more with Conservatism of the 1950's."
"I'm from Vermont, and I remember watching the DNC's response to the threat that was Trump, become 'force Hillary Clinton down the nations throats' and the absolute rigged BS that was 'Super Delegates'."
"I liked things Bernie said, and while he's very left, the nature of politics would force him to the center."
"But to watch him Win Wyoming, and he got something like 3 Delegates and the lose, Hillary, got 11 because of Super Delegates was so frustrating as a voter."
"So I voted for Trump and I got sucked into the just asinine hype."
"I made excuses for the 'Grab her by the P*ssy' nightmare, the escorts, the accusations."
"I was starting to make 'valid' connections to how President Obama was NOT an American."
"Turns out, I'm an idiot, and at 30+ years old found out I too, had a Certificate of Live Birth, and I'm also an American."
"And how we're all going to be good because 'Haha, Trump and Putin are buddies so the world wont end'."
"I think the first crack started when my friend Mariah, who has sunk into a very dark depression since Trump was voted out, he meant THAT much to her, started to act out towards people who even questioned the President of the United States."
"And even openly stated, as a Veteran, that the constitution should be re-written so he could be President forever."
"I started to see how I was acting in her, and even more infuriating, is she's very good at acting like you, and then when you call her out on the BS, justifying why you're wrong to do it, and she's right."
"And then I started to get annoyed by the CONSTANT. TWEETING."
"The supposed 'Leader of the Free World' has no time for 60 tweets a day."
"The cracks became a fissure during COVID."
"I worked for a hospital, and I served in my states National Guard and was actively part of the response, out there, with the Nurses and Doctors."
"And I watched him do as much as he could to facilitate as little as possible, and dare I say stop hospitals from responding to the disaster, hold back supplies, 'bargain' with states and at one point, my state had to use State Police to guard resources so Federal Personnel wouldn't come and take them at the Governments direction."
"I was an American Citizen, serving to support my fellow Citizens, and the Commander in Chief, my boss, was actively making it all but impossible to help."
"Finally when I started to see who Republicans were who supported this man, I couldn't do it."
"Ted Cruze, Gym Jordan, MTG, Boebert, Desantis, and so on."
"I decided I could no longer look myself in the mirror if I supported such people as them, people who were religious extremists, sexual predators, and just the worst people that could possibly exist."
"I'm not proud that it took that much, or that it took an entire year, but in the end I'm just happy I escaped it."- the_walternate
The People He Was Associated With
"When he refused to condemn David Duke, ex-head of the KKK, and said that some veterans suffering from combat PTSD were 'not strong enough'."- BigTuna0890
Free From Influence
"I grew up in a very conservative fundamentalist Christian household that raised the American flag and right-winged politics higher than the Bible."
"I was taught in church that you can’t be a Christian and a democrat."
"I voted for Trump in 2016 not because I really liked him, but because I really didn’t like Hillary Clinton, or so I was told to before I began to think about what I believed for myself."
"After that year, I was groomed by my brother, who at the time was an infamous figurehead in the alt-right/white supremacist community, damn near the right hand of Richard Spencer."
"I would listen to his Skype calls with Spencer from the other room because we had fairly thin walls where we lived."
"At one point, I was actually involved with the white supremacist hate organization that my brother founded, albeit tangentially, I helped cut out flyers and posters that he would post throughout my town and the neighboring ones."
"In my defense, I knew little to nothing about his organization when I did this, not that that excuses the fact."
"I can’t really tell you when I began thinking differently."
"I know at some point I realized that there was a lot of what I believed that I only believed because it’s what I was always told growing up."
"Slowly, over the course of the last 6 years, I’ve gone from being a borderline Trump supporter to someone deeply ashamed of many things my family has taught me growing up."
"I’m closer of a centrist in the context of global politics, which to my family now means I’m what they could call a 'raging flaming liberal communist'.”
"I still hold my Christian beliefs quite closely, but I’d like to think that they come from a place of love for other people, rather than making sure 'everything I do is correct and everyone else knows they’re wrong'.”- Myrshall
Ignoring Puerto Rico
"I don’t know how a single person could support him after Puerto Rico."
"He said their natural disaster broke their budget, begrudgingly visited and tossed paper towels like basketballs, and mocked the pronunciation of the name."
"Oh yeah, and didn’t give a sh*t that an entire territory was destroyed with thousands of dead Americans."- gcaledonian
One can only be grateful that people's eyes were opened enough in 2020 to get him out of office.
How anyone's eyes weren't opened during his long, vulgar, misogynistic and racist campaign, however, is baffling to the point of disturbing.
Not nearly as disturbing, though, as the fact that countless people are still supporting him.
