There’s a guy that I met through the vaping business that’s an ignorant Trump supporter. Let’s call him Harry O’Fool. I don’t mind that we have different political and sociological ideologies. Learning from people with different opinions is one of the best ways to learn. I like learning. What I dislike is that Harry O’Fool’s opinions are mostly uninformed and backed by nothing.
Harry O’Fool has left several comments on my Facebook posts that disagree with my opinion. Again, that’s a good thing. I love to learn new information and evolve. Unfortunately, he never offers sources that back up his opinion. His reasoning consists of “because I say so” or “this is what I think.”
On a post discussing Donald Trump’s possible ties to pharmaceutical companies that manufacture hydroxychloroquine, he left this little nugget.
Yes, he actually wrote, “This president is not out playing golf while Americans are dying.” That statement is provably false.
The first case of coronavirus infection in America was reported by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on January 21, 2020. The first American death from COVID-19 was reported on February 29, 2020. Snopes confirmed that Trump played golf on January 18 and 19, February 1 and 15, and March 7 and 8. The President was, in fact, playing golf while Americans were dying, despite what Harry O’Fool thought “for sure.”
These facts were unacceptable to this ignorant Trump supporter, who replied with:
In addition to the Snopes article, I gave Harry two other sources that showed that Trump was playing golf as COVID-19 was spreading. This was not about “red and blue” or seeing things “completely different.” This was about an ignorant Trump supporter dismissing facts and reality.
I don’t understand how this qualifies as “fake news.” Credible news outlets reported that Trump played golf on those dates. Photographic evidence exists of Trump playing golf and being at his West Palm Beach property on those dates. The President even sent a tweet of him playing golf on February 1. But because the evidence doesn’t support the opinion of an ignorant Trump supporter, it gets dismissed as fake news.
Again, I’m all for having different opinions on how the country should work. Exchanging ideas and learning from other people is a wonderful thing that can make everyone better. However, ignoring facts and being dismissive of reality is unhealthy at best and dangerous at worse.
So while I encourage you discuss and debate with people that have different opinions, please don’t ignore facts and reality. Don’t be an ignorant Trump supporter like Harry O’Fool.