Thanksgiving is that special holiday every year where all Americans reflect on why they’re grateful.
Coming out of a presidential election year, however, means that political fights may rear their ugly head somewhere between the mash potatoes and the turkey. Here’s some useful advice for stopping yourself and your Clinton-loving family members from ruining Thanksgiving.
Ryan Girdusky:
Having a big family means having a handful of liberal family members and in-laws, I personally have a couple of cousins who voted for Hillary. Being a strong Trump supporter, it would be easy to be smug at your big election victory, but start out by being cordial.
No need to start off dinner by saying, “I’m so glad you were able to stop living in fear long enough to come to dinner,” or “were you crying about Hillary while you were making the string beans, they taste especially salty.”
When politics is mentioned, try to deflect with a more upbeat conversation.
“So who else is surprised grandpa lived to see another holiday?” or “I just volunteered at the shelter, I couldn’t tell who was a hipster and who was homeless!”
If all else fails and they bring up insults, conspiracy theories, or the electoral college just scream, “keep it up, and you’re gonna be deported.”
Meghan Keenan:
First of all, I want to direct you to last year’s survival guide, in which we were already anticipating arguments about the 2016 election. So, at least take some joy in the fact that it’s finally over!
If you’re like me, you’re mostly just glad the results are in. However, since they were so unexpected — and so earth-shattering for Democrats — there’s no chance it won’t come up during Thanksgiving dinner.
Since I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either major party candidate, I’m in a great position where I can find common ground on both sides. (Ex: “I know, Donald Trump has said horrible things about women and minorities,” or, “Yes, Hillary Clinton is incredibly corrupt and untrustworthy.” It’s all true.)
But, my tried and true strategy is always to avoid confrontation during the holidays — you have so many other days of the year to fight with your family.
Siraj Hashmi:
I’m the newest member of the RAP team and therefore have no experience when it comes to not bringing up politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table. My entire immediate family and the better part of my extended family are all liberal Muslims (the rest are Catholic, yet they won’t be around during the holiday), so it’s not like there’s a whole lot of disagreements happening, especially since they all voted for Hillary. However, if there’s any political banter occurring, it’s usually between my mother or my lovable, social justice warrior sister and me.
This year, my two older siblings are spending Thanksgiving with their in-laws, so I have fewer people to debate. For the most part though, we’ll probably all discuss how Trump wants to register all Muslims, and I’ll have to be that sole dissenter who says he only wants to re-activate the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which is applied only to non-citizens (and we are all citizens).
They’ll probably tell me that Trump plans to send all American Muslims to an internment camp, and I’ll have to say, “You mean like that famous Democrat President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did to Japanese Americans during World War II?”
Since I’m working in political journalism, my family is highly invested in what I’m doing professionally (unless they’re really good liars), so there’s a good chance a fight or two will be had. If you are looking to avoid bringing up any Trump talk at the Thanksgiving table, focus on three things: 1) sports, 2) Christmas shopping, and 3) who will 2016 kill off next?
Ron Meyer:
I’ve been giving this topic a lot of thought because my Thanksgiving dinner will include some very strong liberals at the table. Neither my wife nor I were avid Trump supporters, but admittedly, we’re kind of excited to get rid of Obamacare, cut taxes, and appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court.
The point is, rather than get into a debate, it’s in all of our best interests to find a way to juke out of a political conversation. Sometimes, yelling “let’s not go there” isn’t enough for drunk liberal Uncle Frank or your politically incorrect Grandma.
So, here are some one-liners to rescue you. The key is to be a transition, not an awkward and random change of topic.
-“Personally, I just would have voted for whoever wanted to get rid of daylight savings time. It’s the worst.”
-“At last comics will remain employed for four years.”
-“At least the election is over. Let’s yell at each other next year when Trump has done something. How about dem Cowboys?”
-“Now that Trump is elected, I wonder if the Washington Redskins will get rid of their offensive name. Can we all agree that ‘Washington’ is much more offensive than ‘Redskins’?” (Warning: this one may blow up in your face, but it won’t be about Trump)
-“If we can survive this election, we can survive anything. I heard ‘Super Moon’ was a hoax and the moon may hit the earth. Has anyone else heard that?”
Anyway, you get the gist. You have to acknowledge the conversation and change it to something either funny, interesting, or more divisive than Trump talk.
Have a suggestion? Send them to [email protected]. We may post the best tomorrow.
