The Day My Dad Voted for Trump—and Voted Me Out of His Life
What do you do when your father’s support for Trump’s reelection isn’t just political—but personal? For this daughter, it became the final fracture in a lifelong pattern of silence, gaslighting, and grief.
This Wasn’t About Politics. It Was About Protection.
There’s a moment when the scales tip.
When all the gaslighting, all the minimizing, all the “He’s still your dad” comments can’t compete with the grief of being invisible in your own family.
For me, that moment arrived during Trump’s reelection campaign.
It wasn’t his vote—it was what that vote revealed. And once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it.
Trump Didn’t Break Us. He Revealed Us.
My father didn’t just “disagree politically.” He doubled down on values that undermined my existence.
He admired Trump’s bravado. He echoed his disdain for protestors, for immigrants, for the “overly sensitive.”
And in that echo, I heard a familiar voice—the same one that questioned my truth growing up, the same one that called me dramatic when I cried.
His support for Trump felt like déjà vu.
A return to the kind of power-over dynamic I spent years unlearning in therapy.
The Political Became Unbearably Personal
I didn’t go no-contact overnight.
I tried to stay quiet. I tried to avoid conflict. I tried to compartmentalize.
But every time he shared a meme or praised a speech, a part of me flinched.
Because I knew what it meant.
He didn’t just support Trump—he supported a worldview that denied my pain, my identity, my healing.
And I couldn’t keep betraying myself to make him comfortable.
“You Don’t Cut Off Family.” Actually, Sometimes You Do.
What no one tells you about estrangement is how freeing it can feel.
Not easy. Not pain-free. But deeply, finally aligned.
Because I stopped tolerating conversations that left my nervous system buzzing.
I stopped contorting my truth to protect his comfort.
I stopped pretending we could repair something he refused to see was broken.
This Was the Final Straw—Not the First Fracture
This decision wasn’t about one election.
It was about the slow erosion of trust, emotional safety, and mutual respect over decades.
Trump’s reelection campaign just made it undeniable.
It was the spotlight on everything I had spent years rationalizing.
And in that light, I saw clearly:
My healing would never be safe with him.
You’re Not “Too Sensitive” for Choosing Yourself
If you’re reading this with a pit in your stomach, wondering if your pain is “enough” to warrant distance, let me be the one to say it:
You don’t need permission.
You don’t need to wait for it to get worse.
You don’t need your family to agree with your decision.
You just need to believe yourself.
