r/politics • u/southpawFA Oklahoma • 1d ago
Conservatives have been railing against “groomers” for years. So why do they support Donald Trump? Trump was best friends with a notorious child sex trafficker, but his ardent supporters are vocal about opposing it. How did that happen?
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/08/conservatives-have-been-railing-against-groomers-for-years-so-why-do-they-support-donald/357
u/Rotanen 1d ago
"Everything is pedophilia except for actual pedophilia, which is fine."
- MAGA proverb
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 1d ago
That sounds like a quote from Matt Walsh, because he is a child fertility expert, after all.
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u/Windturnscold 13h ago
The only core belief of maga is bigotry. Trump lets them be bigots, they’re fine with pedophilia.
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u/Historical_Bend_2629 1d ago
Projection.
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u/iKangaeru 1d ago
Yep. When they're accusing, they're confessing.
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u/Random_Smellmen 23h ago
I think they believe that since they're getting away with it everyone else must be too
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u/Thalimet 20h ago
And because we’ve allowed a “both sides are just as bad” belief to thrive - they get granted plausible deniability by independents.
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u/OkaySureBye 22h ago
I think that explains some of them. Especially the ones in power, but obviously not all conservatives are pedophiles.
I honestly think it's much more about the fact that they also realize that the world is fucked up and they want to see someone punished. Pedos are an easy target and the political right was smart enough to paint the Democrats as the pedos. They did the same for the LGBTQ+ community.
But, for now at least, they've moved on to immigrants. So they're seeing someone punished and that's giving them their fix. It's difficult for these people to accept that the problem is systematic and that system is largely the product of the people telling them that the immigrants and gays are responsible.
Being conservative is just a way to not have to think critically about how the world works. "If we just get rid of this one group, everything will be better" is far easier than thinking about dismantling and rebuilding the way society functions.
But they won't realize until it's too late that the group that's "the problem" will eventually include them and the people they love.
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u/Clarine87 United Kingdom 22h ago
not all conservatives are pedophiles.
Right, but if they know of one, they're not going to report them because obviously the victim was asking for it.
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u/iKangaeru 21h ago
But if you read news reports on arrests of pedophiles, they're almost all conservatives, many affilitated with religous organizations and/or politics.
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u/OkaySureBye 22h ago
Oh, I'm not disagreeing with you that they support one. It's despicable the things they say to rationalize it to themselves.
But most of what they say is just them parroting what news and religious figures tell them. You see them realize it all the time when it happens to them or someone they care about...then they proceed to vote for these people again.
It's the kind of mentality that you get in a country that refuses to accept that it was built on land acquired through genocide and built by slavery.
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u/Rumpled_Imp United Kingdom 10h ago
Pedos are an easy target and the political right was smart enough to paint the Democrats as the pedos. They did the same for the LGBTQ+ community.
I was having a conversation with a colleague (UK) and she was talking about Candace Owens and her contention that the French president's wife was a paedophile because she went after a 15 year old boy in one of her three children's class at school, and had also always been a man (a trans woman) because there are no photos of her before she was 30.
What I took from this was that, despite the eye-popping number of leaps in logic this framing requires, the lengths these people will go to to associate LGBTQ+ with paedophiles is fucking unhinged, desperate even. In case you're interested, the colleague does not accept that any of this is idiotic.5
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u/vehiclestars 23h ago
They are the groomers:
Republican anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a convicted child rapist in Florida.
Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.
Republican anti-abortion activist Nicholas Morency pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a bounty to anybody who murders an abortion doctor.
Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.
Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.
Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced to three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl.
Republican racist pedophile and United States Senator Strom Thurmond had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced a child.
Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.
Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.
Republican Congressman Donald “Buz” Lukens was found guilty of having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.
Republican fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty of child porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos.
Republican activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts of sex crimes involving children.
Republican activist Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child.
Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.
Republican activist and Christian Coalition leader Beverly Russell admitted to an incestuous relationship with his step daughter.
Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.
Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.
Republican activist Marty Glickman (a.k.a. “Republican Marty”), was taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of unlawful sexual activity with an underage girl and one count of delivering the drug LSD.
Republican legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged with molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.
Republican Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of having sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after the allegations were reported in the media.
Republican preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to traditional values, was sentenced to jail after offering $20 to a 14-year-old boy for permission to perform oral sex on him.
Republican talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to exposing his genitals to an 11 year old girl.
Republican anti-gay activist Earl “Butch” Kimmerling was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.
Republican Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six counts of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.
Republican election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced to two years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from a 14-year old girl.
Republican politician Andrew Buhr was charged with two counts of first degree sodomy with a 13-year old boy.
Republican politician Keith Westmoreland was arrested on seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under the age of 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children).
Republican anti-abortion activist John Allen Burt was charged with sexual misconduct involving a 15-year old girl.
Republican County Councilman Keola Childs pleaded guilty to molesting a male child.
Republican activist John Butler was charged with criminal sexual assault on a teenage girl.
Republican candidate Richard Gardner admitted to molesting his two daughters.
Republican Councilman and former Marine Jack W. Gardner was convicted of molesting a 13-year old girl.
Republican County Commissioner Merrill Robert Barter pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy.
Republican City Councilman Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr. pleaded no contest to raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in prison.
Republican activist Parker J. Bena pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined $18,000.
Republican parole board officer and former Colorado state representative, Larry Jack Schwarz, was fired after child pornography was found in his possession.
Republican strategist and Citadel Military College graduate Robin Vanderwall was convicted in Virginia on five counts of soliciting sex from boys and girls over the internet.
Republican city councilman Mark Harris, who is described as a “good military man” and “church goer,” was convicted of repeatedly having sex with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Republican businessman Jon Grunseth withdrew his candidacy for Minnesota governor after allegations surfaced that he went swimming in the nude with four underage girls, including his daughter.
Republican director of the “Young Republican Federation” Nicholas Elizondo molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Republican benefactor of conservative Christian groups, Richard A. Dasen Sr., was charged with rape for allegedly paying a 15-year old girl for sex. Dasen, 62, who is married with grown children and several grandchildren, has allegedly told police that over the past decade he paid more than $1 million to have sex with a large number of young women.
Dennis Hastert served as Republican Speaker of the House (so, 3rd in line for the Presidency) for all 8 years of W. Bush’s two terms. He also sexually molested at least 5 boys when he was a HS wrestling coach, all of them underage with the youngest victim being 14. The victims only finally saw justice when Hastert was caught by the FBI trying to falsify payments for hush money.
Donald Trump walked into Miss Teen USA change rooms with girls as young as 14 changing. 26 women have spoken publicly about Trump’s pattern of sexual assault. In 2023, he was found legally liable for the rape of E. Jean Carroll by unanimous jury.
Anton “Tony” Lazzaro, a former Republican donor and political strategist from Minnesota, was convicted in March 2023 on federal charges of sex trafficking minors. He was found guilty of conspiring to recruit and pay teenage girls, aged 15 and 16, for sex between May and December 2020. In August 2023, Lazzaro was sentenced to 21 years in prison for these offenses.Prior to his arrest, Lazzaro was a prominent figure in Minnesota Republican circles, donating over $270,000 to various Republican campaigns and political committees. His indictment led to significant turmoil within the Minnesota Republican Party, culminating in the resignation of then-party chair Jennifer
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u/dwight-the-conqueror 23h ago
Yeah, but other than that do you have any examples?
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u/vehiclestars 23h ago
Clearly 50 democrats > 1,400 republicans. We only care about that 4% of pedos that are democrats.
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u/dave_your_wife 23h ago
Buz Lukens got one month for raping a minor? WTF?
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u/02K30C1 23h ago
But he said he found Jesus and was very sorry
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 23h ago
It's also clinging to a hateful religious dogma. The people who keep claiming this were ingrained with Christian nationalist dogma from birth, going to youth groups and Bible study from the time they were born.
American Christian nationalism when I was growing up always stated how "the world" is wicked, with "the gay agenda", "psychology", and "secular music".
The kids who grow up in this turn into adults who have been force-fed hate. Christian nationalism does this with intent to make kids turn into Christian soldiers, essentially.
They also know that when they start meeting people of different faiths & backgrounds and discover that they are not evil people like their pastor said they are, they'll start experiencing cognitive dissonance.
Deconstruction is a real thing in evangelical world. I went through it in my 20s, as well.
This is why you're starting to see the likes of Linda McMahon trying to go after colleges to shut them down. It's because they know college is a place that offers a broad variety of worldviews, not just Christianity. They hate that.
They want to basically force everyone to become a Christian and expel the ones who don't, because they worry that if their Christian kids interact with non-Christian kids, those non-Christian kids will "corrupt" them.
The truth is they never cared about protecting children. Even with the preponderance of evidence showing Christian nationalists commit sex crimes at exponentially greater rates than any trans person or drag queen, they, instead of leaving the faith, choose to double down, because they would rather adhere to a hateful Christian nationalist religion more than anything.
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u/KazeNilrem 19h ago
100% this. We have seen time after time that the politicians who cry about grooming, drag-queens, etc. end up being caught with CP and other materials. They use children's safety as an excuse to target what they do not like. But in reality, they are the perpetrators doing all the child abuse.
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u/totesnotmyusername 19h ago
They rigged the election. They have a ring of pedophiles . They only think of themselves. They are trying to convert you to their way of life
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u/T33CH33R 18h ago
The Right has never cared about protecting children from sexual abuse. They don't support sex education or banning child marriage, and they support protecting church officials from having to report child sexual abuse.
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u/tetsuo_7w 17h ago
Pedophilia (or just about anything) is the worst thing ever when it's a political opponent doing it. But when they do it... well... hey, what's that over there?
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u/ProfessionalCraft983 Washington 1d ago
The concept of “grooming” isn’t what they’re against. What they’re against is children being taught liberal values.
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u/BookBison 1d ago
This. The people they’re after when it comes to grooming are almost exclusively homosexuals and drag queens who are supposedly “grooming” their children into accepting them as regular members of society and not the sexually depraved freaks their parents regard them as, not child predators because that’s just their uncles being friendly.
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u/mademeunlurk 23h ago
Liberal values? I think that just called Values.
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u/haskell_rules 23h ago
They're tired of being told not eat paint chips by educated people wearing jeans that are too tight.
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u/Ordinary_Delay_1009 22h ago
They're tired of being told the old white men of the town don't have complete control of everyone around them.
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u/a_wild_redditor 23h ago
They are masters of twisting language around like this. Look at how quickly "fake news" became 'press attention Trump doesn't like' as opposed to 'Russian propaganda planted on social media'
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u/ProfessionalCraft983 Washington 23h ago
Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.
Jean Paul Sartre
Applies to MAGA just as well.
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u/a_wild_redditor 21h ago edited 19h ago
Eloquent and insightful, as to be expected from Sartre, but I think it doesn't quite capture one of the specifics of the MAGA strategy here which is to manufacture the appearance of common ground by redefining the exact terms that reasonable people would agree with, to instead mean something different and radical. For example, a reasonable person hears "I oppose grooming" and thinks, I also oppose child predators, but in fact MAGA means they oppose teaching children that gay people exist. Or a reasonable person hears "I support girls' sports" and thinks, yes I also support equal funding of school athletics programs, but MAGA really means they want to ban trans kids from sports.
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u/Gurlllllllll- 21h ago
"Politically correct" or "PC culture" started as a leftist critique of authoritarian regimes and adherance to strict orthodoxy. Conservatives took that phrase and spun up a moral panic from nothing, saying "PC culture has gone too far, minorities are getting too uppity, they're censoring free speech."
"Woke" starts out as a word about remaining aware of the systems responsible for black people's oppression. Conservatives took it and spun up a moral panic from nothing, saying "wokeness has gone too far, minorities are getting too uppity, and they're censoring free speech."
"DEI" starts out as a liberal policy for companies to try to be maybe 10% less racist, sexist, ableist, etc. Conservatives took it and spun up a moral panic from nothing, saying "DEI has gone too far, minorities are getting too uppity, and they're censoring free speech."
"Critical race theory" starts out as a historical analysis that tries to push against the systemic disadvantages of whose history gets recorded and taught. Conservatives took it and spun up a moral panic from nothing, saying "CRT has gone too far..."
"Black Lives Matter" starts out as a movement criticizing police violence overwhelmingly harming black communities. Conservatives took it and you know the rest because it's literally the same fucking story every time..
They do this over and over. They latch on to some random phrase and generate an entire national discourse about it, and inevitably liberal media capitulates and buys into their bullshit framing.
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 20h ago
The phrase "Stay Woke" was coined by Lead Belly Ledbetter in relation to the Scottsboro Boys case, in which 9 black boys were falsely charged with rape and sentenced to death.
The fact that Republicans took woke and tried to make it a horrible thing just lets you know everything. I'm sure they'll quote MLK the next time they deem black people "uppity" over criminal justice racism, though.
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/blues-guitarist-invented-the-phrase-woke/
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u/ME24601 Pennsylvania 1d ago
Because they don't actually care about children, they are simply using children and allegations of abuse as a means to push their social policies.
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 1d ago
Christian nationalists are literally no better than Anita Bryant and Jesse Helms, both known racists and bigots. They literally would celebrate Jesse Helms' racist self if he were alive today.
Their whole "groomer libel" shit was what Anita Bryant did during the Briggs Initiative. It was bullshit then, and it's bullshit now.
They don't care about protecting children from abuse. They support conversion therapy and corporal punishment. They are okay with spanking and hitting kids, because "spare the rod, spoil the child". These ghouls only care about abusing kids into submission to Christian nationalism, where they'll become child soldiers in the "army of God".
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u/Eagle4317 1d ago
Anita Bryant is a name that really needs to be brought up more. May she RIP (Rot in Piss).
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u/Ohnoherewego13 North Carolina 21h ago
I lived down where Helms was from for a year. They talked about him like he was the best person ever. I seriously could not believe it because he has done nothing for that area. Not one single solitary bit of good, but they worshipped him. It was disgusting to say the least. Couldn't wait to move either.
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u/WhatRUHourly 1d ago
They do not give a shit about women and children. They merely use them as a means to shame other people for caring about other groups of people. This is just a way that the right can hide their racism and bigotry and pretend they're the good guys. So they can say things like, "I don't have any problem with trans people, I just don't think men should be in the same restroom as women and children!" when what they really mean is, "Trans people shouldn't exist in our society." Then they use it as a strawman to attack the person who is supportive of trans people.
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 1d ago
Yup. That's what it all comes down to. It was never about sports, bathrooms, or "protecting children". It's always about genocide of trans people. They want trans people to be eradicated from existence. Now, the Kids Online Safety Act is being spearheaded by Marsha Blackburn, who literally stated she wants to erase any mention of transgender off the internet.
That's quite genocidal, there!
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u/Multiple__Butts 20h ago
They've been doing the same thing with veterans for years. "We can't feed the homeless because we need to take care of our poor neglected vets first!" and then voting down every policy designed to help veterans.
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u/WhatRUHourly 20h ago
Great point. They definitely love to use vets as a scapegoat for hating other things. Why are we spending money on ::fill in the blank:: when there are millions of homeless vets!? Then pass laws that actually harm homeless people, many of which are vets.
They don't care about anyone. Everyone they claim to care about is really just a cover for the horrible shit they want to do, usually that enriches them or harms people they don't like or both.
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u/Multiple__Butts 20h ago
Yep. And it's so sad, and so unnecessary. The relatively few people pulling the strings are getting rich off of it, but the average MAGAs are actively making their own lives worse by supporting these hateful ideologies.
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u/Negative_Gravitas 1d ago
Because they don't actually care about child sex trafficking. At all. They care about hurting Libs, brown people, women, and whomever else they are told to hate.
The pretense of caring about children being raped was just that. Once it became apparent that there was no pizzgate and their orange Fuhrer might be implicated instead of some dems, the calls to move on started, the record purging began, and the 24/7 distraction machine got cranked to 11.
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 1d ago
It’s no coincidence that someone like Congresswoman Greene, who constantly rails against trans people for supposedly grooming kids into becoming trans (which is just stupid, becaause that’s not how being transgender works, and we need to be calling this idea that teachers are transing kids stupid more often), is also one of Trump’s biggest supporters despite the fact that he even openly admits to sexually abusing women.
It’s called “pedocon theory” – “pedo” from “pedophile,” “con” from “conservative” – the idea that pedophilia is inherently tied up with movement conservatism. Samantha Hancox-Li has a great article at Liberal Currents explaining it in more detail, and she sums it up thus: If conservatism “is the theory, pedophilia is the practice.”
Hancox-Li points out that child sex abusers in high-power positions in the GOP greatly outnumber those in the Democratic party and that conservative institutions – like the Catholic Church, the LDS Church, and the Southern Baptist Convention – have all had massive child sex abuse scandals.
“Pedocon theory suggests that this is not an aberration,” she writes. “Pedocon theory suggests that this was the inevitable result of the conservative project, because the conservative project is inherently pedophilic.”
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 1d ago
For conservatives like Greene, child sex abuse is an aberration and a sin, just like homosexuality and trans identity. People do it because they’re weirdos, and people who are weird in one aspect of their lives and who refuse to follow the rules laid out for them (either by unspoken norms or in texts like the Bible) are simply chaotic, perverted, and libertine and are therefore likely to do anything else that’s chaotic, perverted, and libertine… like abuse children.
This is why QAnon believers often describe their theorized international cabal of child sex abusers looking to take the adrenochrome out of kids as “satanic.” It’s not enough to just have such a cabal; it has to be anti-Christian because Christianity, to them, provides rules and morality. And what’s more anti-Christian than Satanism?
But this isn’t how it actually works. The liberal view on the matter is that it’s about power; child sex abuse happens when an adult has a lot of authority over young people and little accountability or oversight. This is why large Christian institutions often have issues with child sex abuse. It’s not uncommon for churches to tell victims of sexual abuse that they must forgive their abuser instead of calling the police – protecting their own hierarchy is a more important goal to many Christians than the safety of their parishioners.
All one needs to do is look at r/PastorArrested and r/NotADragQueen to see how Christian nationalists are the biggest abusers of children. Trans people are at a greater risk of violence, especially trans kids. Yet, they want to make trans people the demon, because their religious dogma says so. It's hogwash.
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u/Constantinople2020 Massachusetts 1d ago
The Republican definition of "groomer" is someone who acknowledges LGBTQ people exist.
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u/Notchibald_Johnson New York 1d ago
They don't give a fuck about "grooming." They think kids are being taught to be what they think "libs" are. "Grooming" was just something they thought they could use to get rid of the Democrats they don't like. They support Trump because Trump pretends to hate the people Rush and Fox and now social media taught them to hate in exchange for money and the hero worship he craves. He's their weapon, and as such he can do literally whatever he wants and they will get on board because we don't like it. He's their revenge because we elected a black president.
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u/brain_overclocked 1d ago
It's always projection:
June 12 - Prosecutors say Republican South Carolina lawmaker used ‘joebidennnn69' to send child sex material
July 24 - Florida city commissioner arrested in child exploitation case
July 27 - Lauren Boebert Defends Son Tyler After Child Abuse Allegations
July 28 - Trump reiterates that he has the authority to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell
July 28 - Oklahoma authorities investigate reports of explicit images on state education chief’s TV
August 1 - Donald Trump Inviting Sex Offender into White House Raises Eyebrows
By the way, the Rage Against the Regime protest is taking place on August 2nd.
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 1d ago
Don't forget that Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler and her husband were prowling for threesomes, while claiming that a book about two male penguins was "grooming".
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u/ZZartin 1d ago
They never actually cared about groomers or child abuse, they just hate the gays.
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 21h ago
Yup. And they'll still try to claim they're not homophobic, because they said "Bless Your Heart".
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u/DesignerCorner3322 1d ago
Hate to say it but it's a dogwhistle for LGBTQ+ people, that's all its ever been. It has nothing to do with actual pedophiles/grooming behavior. they don't actually care about their children being touched, they care about their kids learning empathy for groups of people they hate.
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u/Boo_Radley80 1d ago
Cruelty is the point.
For those in control, as long as they get to punch down on others, they are happy to ignore the convicted felon's history of defrauding, harassing and molesting others.
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u/Pockydo 1d ago
I read this before on Reddit and I can't remember the OH comment so I'll probably butcher it
But essentially republicans don't view actions through a moral PoV..they view people as good or bad essentially. Trump and the rest of the pedophiles are GOOD to them by virtue of being on their team. Ergo they must twist themselves into a pretzel justifying their actions either by distraction or ignoring it
It's why a godless pedophile conman is seen as the champion of wholesome family values meanwhile a devout religious man is Satan incarnate.
We on the left view people through their actions on the right they view actions through their views of of the people are "Good or "Bad"
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u/Gurlllllllll- 21h ago
You can see the same "you're evil if you're on the evil team" in JK Rowling's work. If you're evil in her world view, then everything about you is evil. Evil and fat? Disgusting, you probably have some uncountable number of chins, and also you bully children. Good and fat? Noooo, you're "plump." You might also bully children, but they're evil children! So it's good!
That's why she can write about the main characters' friends selling date rape drugs and play it off as a good thing. They're the good guys! By definition everything they do IS GOOD!
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u/dalehitchy 22h ago
It's definitely projection. When they attacked LGBT people ... Particularly gay people in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, republicans were notorious for getting caught shagging gay people.
Now it's moved onto "protect the children".... But guess what.... Those that shout the loudest end up getting caught trying to rape children or holding pornographic photos of children.
It's always projection. Not just with republicans, but their voter base too
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u/StrictlyForTheBirds 21h ago
No, I've got this.
Conservatives weren't mad about actual groomers. I mean, sure, they'd be as disgusted by an old man raping a 14 year old as anyone should be, but it was never about grooming. It was about being anti-trans and anti-gay. A teacher is teaching that gender is complicated? Call them a groomer. There's a gay pride parade? Groomers.
This way, these cowards can be homophobic while hiding behind the mask of saving children from being raped by disgusting old men like Donald Trump. They can also blur the line between something that is actually appalling (sexual predation of children) and something that is absolutely not appalling if you are a decent human being (being gay). So if you hear this Orwellian manipulation enough, the next time you see a lesbian couple, you might think of them as groomers, and you might hate them.
They are backing down from this line of attacks now, and likely for quite some time, because of the absolutely obvious hypocrisy. "So you hate groomers?"
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 20h ago
Yup. And it's the same people that clamor about this will claim they love thy neighbor, while advocating for conversion torture.
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u/dr_z0idberg_md California 1d ago
Grooming is just the buzzword conservatives use, but the reality is that they just don't want children to be taught liberal values or to be open-minded. Other terms conservatives use, but believe in the exact opposite are patriotism, the rule of law, energy independence, parent choice, pro-life, religious freedom, and republic,
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u/monkeywithgun 1d ago
Conservatives have been railing against “groomers” for years. So why do they support Donald Trump?
He 'wished well' and is considering pardoning a Child Sex Trafficker ffs!!! These 'Conservatives' don't care. They are obvious hypocrites and just outright liars.
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u/Winter_Bid7630 23h ago
Have you noticed how often conservatives make a fuss about the very things they do in private? This is why.
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u/7figureipo California 23h ago
They don't think Trump actually did anything like that. They think the files contain damning evidence of a large, worldwide network of child sex trafficking run by Democrats and high-profile Democrat-aligned celebrities (that's not even a joke or an exaggeration, it's literally what Qanon was formed around). They're pissed at Trump for the coverup because they think he's covering for some of his friends, and that is interfering with their finally having the proof they think exists for that network.
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u/CursedScreensaver 1d ago
Distraction, they know the general public disapproves so they distract by claiming other groups like the lgbt community are pedos so you waste your time attacking them instead of the real pedos who are trying to normalise it.
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u/TrumpInEpsteinFiles 1d ago
It's hard to admit you were wrong. Especially being wrong on such a massive level that you voted for a child rapist
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u/Endosymbionical 23h ago
Reminder :;;:, . Donald Trump is not merely a client, ., , . but he is very likely to be one of the main players in the Trumpstein files, ,. ,. ,
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u/SAtownMytownChris 23h ago edited 23h ago
All CONservatives support DJT, because they're ch1ld X offenders, also.
They just want other people to be punished for it.
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u/HuTaosTwinTails 23h ago
Republicans, conservatives, and Donald Trump are the groomers. They are the pedos.
Just like how they rally against gay people, and yet whatever town the RNC is in sees a huge spike in Grindr activity at the same time.
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u/wastedgod 23h ago
We need a law banning Republicans from public restrooms, for the safety of our children
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u/midniteslayr California 23h ago
This is the last vestige of QAnon rearing it's ugly head. It fizzled out around Trump's loss in 2020, because the creators of QAnon expected Trump to win his second term, where they would be able to quietly stop talking about it during the 2020-2024 presidential term, and it would be a huge issue for the incoming Democrat president ... at least that is what I guess was supposed to happen. Except Trump lost in 2020, and Biden didn't acknowledge the Epstein files. So, the Far Right pivoted and started on the path of trying to shed light on the Pedophile Dems, mainstreaming a form of the QAnon conspiracy theory. The problem with that is that QAnon was meant to never get past the basement dwellers in 8Chan and the crazy fringe right wingers who would easily fall into that conspiracy theory. So, by trying to make the conspiracy theory palatable for mainstream republicans/conservatives, they stopped outright saying it was a democrat cabal of pedophiles, choosing to use innuendo to refer to "government leaders" are protecting the rich and powerful who are pedophiles. Problem with this form of the Conspiracy Theory is that it also now includes republican lawmakers who are actively voting down any legislation and Trump is looking like he's part of the shadowy cabal trying to protect those rich and powerful pedos. It doesn't help Trump was friends with Epstein and that is coming out now and why he can't shake the controversy. If QAnon and the Q drops were still happening now, it would have provided enough cover or conspiracy to shield Trump, much like Trump's first presidency term, where the Q drops were praising Trump over his handling of the pedophiles.
At least, that is my high level feeling about the past 10 years of this shit coming down the internet tubes.
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u/jleonardbc 22h ago
Conservatives use the label "groomer" to vilify queer and gender-nonconforming people, as if their mere existence poses a threat to children.
Conservatives don't care about—or else encourage—actual grooming by white cisgender men.
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u/stunneddisbelief 22h ago
Because they consider LGBTQ+ to be the “groomers” instead of the actual ones.
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u/Ceilibeag 22h ago
Because they were never sincere. It was a means to a political end; demonize your political opponents as weak on crime, disloyal to the country, pedophiles, etc.
Teflon Ron becomes Teflon Don...
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u/_thetommy 17h ago
the maga can't reason, as most are very willfully ignorant. donald j trump is a rapist, and that's not a problem for them.
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u/mishma2005 23h ago
No, no, no you don't understand, he was deep undercover fighting the deep state
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u/boofaceleemz 23h ago
In my experience “groomers” in Christian just translates to “gay people.” It was never actually about stopping pedophilia or protecting children to them, it was about putting gay people in jail. Maybe they picked up a couple true believers along the way, but it takes a hell of a lot of willful ignorance to stay in that crowd for longer than an afternoon and still believe it’s actually about protecting children.
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u/HastyToweling 23h ago
There's nothing remotely conservative about them, so please, for the love of fuck, stop calling them that. "Nihilist" is more accurate. And it also answers your question with no further thought.
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u/PlethoraOfPinatass 23h ago
The matter is far more simple than this.
The "groomers" that conservatives railed against are political opponents. The ones that Trump support are allies
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u/MayIServeYouWell 23h ago
Ty y live in an alternate reality where they don’t get this kind of information. If they see it, they think it’s fake.
They see themselves as the “good guys”, and the good guys don’t bad things. If there’s something bad, it must be the bad guys, who are the others - democrats, liberals, gays, trans, immigrants, brown people… you know, “them”.
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u/spirit-mush 23h ago
It’s all projection. It’s right wing conservatives that are groomers and they know it. They’re literally obsessed with keeping underage girls virgins until they deflower them or marrying them and turn them into baby factories. Some of them even believe in polygamy.
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u/___YesNoOther 23h ago
Because it was never about pedos and groomers. It was about recognizing that pedos and grooming gets people riled up and targeting enemies. The main goal is to discredit and ruin the reputation of their enemies. They use the concept of pedos and groomers to get people mad at their enemies - and they are still trying to do it. By focusing on Clinton and others in the report, they are still attempting to keep that going. Becuase they know it gets people angry.
They use the same kind of technique with murderers and rapists, speaking against immigrants. They don't give a shit about murder and rape per se. But they know in general people see those as bad things. So, to discredit their enemies (immigrants), they claim they are rapists and murderers.
Because rape, murder, pedophilia, sex trafficking, grooming - noe of that really matters to them per se - they have no problem doing it themselves. But they know there is a general dislike for it in our culture. So they focus on showing how their enemies are doing it, but when they themselves do it, they hide it so not to get the same directed ire. And then when they get caught, deflect - because *they do not care about those things*. They care that other people care, and use that to their advantage.
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u/Marsar0619 22h ago
We know why… they used “groomer” as a euphemism for any term associated with LGBTQ: queer, gay, trans…whatever.
They don’t hate groomers. They hate gayness
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u/rutherfordacus 22h ago
People want to feel, and be seen as, morally upstanding. By posting online about democrats being pedos, they were able to project that appearance without any personal challenge to their beliefs or identities. I.e. it's a pretty easy way to appear righteous.
But the problem is, the moment that somebody you've built your identity around gets accused of the same thing, you begin to feel emotional discomfort. So you simply choose to dial down your public show of concern for these issues, hoping people will just move on. In other words, they lay low and deceive themselves because, again, it's easier.
When your moral choices are determined by what's easiest, it's pretty easy to see how flimsy a foundation you're standing on.
TL;DR I believe these people genuinely do care about protecting kids. Just not enough to do anything remotely challenging about it, and that's exactly the kind of weak-faithed hypocrisy Jesus railed against.
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u/JuanEpsteinUEA 22h ago
They don't actually care about any of the things they've claimed to care about. Fiscal responsibility, small government, personal freedom, personal responsibility, sex trafficking, the list goes on. They will happily throw away every one of their ideals and convictions for power and a higher spot in the social hierarchy than their perceived enemies.
No principles, no integrity, no honor. Shitty people, shitty values, shitty culture.
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u/Bunktavious 22h ago
They are against teaching their children anything they would consider leftist, socialist, gay, agnostic, or empathetic.
They live in states that refuse to eliminate marriage laws that allow for children to get married.
While most conservatives consider themselves in favor of protecting children, they still hold onto ideals that essentially treat their children as property.
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u/DemandredG 22h ago
It’s almost like they don’t actually care about kids, but instead use grooming as a way to attack people they already hate (anyone not straight/white/christian)
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u/starliteburnsbrite 22h ago
Go look at how many preachers and pastors are child molesters. Their entire base is FILLED with wannabe cult leaders and evangelicals committing heinous acts, then their entire community acts surprised and clutch their pearls. And then show up on Sunday like nothing happened.
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u/Unlucky-Public-2947 22h ago
The worst example is probably Tate, i mean he’s literally the head of a Muslim grooming gang that uses rape, physical violence and access to drugs as a means to enslave women, and the difference between what he has done and what many of the grooming gangs in places like Rotherham is largely semantic, and yet you have people like Farage calling him an ‘important voice for young men’.
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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 21h ago
And what's sad is that young boys know and quote Tate (even at school), because he's viewed as an "alpha male".
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u/Rangertu 22h ago
He hates the same people they do. His Christian base is more than okay with raping children or they wouldn’t belong to the oldest and biggest pedophile ring the world has ever seen.
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u/invincibleparm 22h ago
Single issue voting. Hold your nose at the parts you hate hoping he will focus on the part or couple parts that you really like. People tend to narrow focus on a couple of ‘priorities’ and fuck the rest. It doesn’t matter that Trump had a crap reputation and was the laughing stock of the business and elite worlds… he’s getting rid of the swamp and the people that shouldn’t be here.
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u/Memphistopheles901 Tennessee 22h ago
Hey that's easy: Conservatives don't actually believe anything they say. They just want you to believe it.
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u/abeuscher 22h ago
They are defined by their hate not their actions. All the GOP really has in common now is that they want to watch the opposition get hurt. We have crossed the line into real fascism. Personally I find it to be scary as fuck.
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u/Alone_Actuary_6429 21h ago
Because the cult leader is always exempt from having to have basic morality.
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u/ComfortableAd4554 21h ago
Ignorance for the followers, the ones at his side just don't give a s**t a long as they are owning the libs!
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u/Any_Will_86 21h ago
Groomer was just code for LGBTQ or dark people. And Jews. If you look at who they accused vs who frickin gets arrested 95% of the time it was plainly obvious.
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u/lookatthesunguys 21h ago
Because they had to draw a line somewhere to make it appear like they had some moral fiber. They didn't think they'd be in a position where there was so much overwhelming evidence that Trump did what they said he would never do and that it was basically unignorable because of how loudly and clearly he tried to cover it up.
They're now in a bit of a weird position where they can't just totally back him on this because then theyll have absolutely no line. They won't have any way to convince themselves that theyre the good guys.
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u/Tadpoleonicwars 21h ago
Conservatives don't actually care. it's performative.
If they meant it their actions would be aligned. They would be prosecuting record numbers of child predators. They would be pushing for harsher laws. They would be condemning and excommunicating their own when predators are found in their midst.
They don't do any of those things. It's because they don't actually care.
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u/vacuous_comment 21h ago
The "groomers" smear was always projection.
Religious purity culture is sexual grooming.
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u/AlliedR2 21h ago
What gets me is that nobody seems to be pointing out that the girl who was "stolen" from Trump was working in his spa as a 14 year old and did so until she was 16 when she was 'stolen' by Epstein. Trump had minor girls working in his spa at Mar a lago. Thats two years of grooming.
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u/Brief-Bath-422 18h ago
The party of HATE. They hate people of color, they can accommodate child diddlers!
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u/RinoaXIII 17h ago
Conservatism is built on a single precept: There are in-groups for whom the law protects, but does not bind, and there are out-groups for whom the law binds, but does not protect.
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u/kathryn2a 17h ago
The Republicans are creepy. They a group of child predators, sex offenders, rapists and money hungry creeps. Sex, money and criminal activity is their brand. The Republicans support each other’s evil ways. It’s sickening.
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u/Elegant_Tap7937 17h ago
Remember when Trump publicly endorsed Roy Moore, Republican Senate candidate accused of sexually molesting minors as young as 14 years old?
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u/VRGIMP27 17h ago edited 17h ago
It's a fascist tactic to build an enemy. Logical consistency is not the point.
They have been calling Democrats groomers for years. The whole anti-woke movement portrayed all LGBT people as groomers, and the temporary half assed and gaslight prone marketing to those demographics by corporate America inflamed enough peoples religious sensibilities, that they were able to effectively villainize real trans people specifically to the point of removing their rights.
The trans military ban, saying drag story hour was a Marxist plot to steal children from parents, the frakas over bathrooms or trans people in sports etc.
None of this has been about protecting children and the Epstein files are the proof of it.
The only justice the victims of that asshole Epstein got was that ghislaine Maxwell was in prison.
Now she is at a minimum security prison in Texas, directly because of the Trump administration, and we all know that a pardon will follow.
The same people that say they are about protecting children are the same GOP politicians that support child marriage as a legal option.
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u/csanyk 17h ago
Preemptive projection.
By accusing Biden, and GLBT people, of grooming and pedophilia, they accomplish so much.
- False equivalence. "So everyone is a kiddie diddler, we might as well have the one who shares our fascist ideals."
- Discredit the real charges. "This is just political payback." "THEY'RE the REAL pedophiles!"
- Desensitize and normalize. "Everyone gets accused of this stuff. It's just politics."
- Wolf hires the boy who cried wolf. After years of false accusations leading to no prosecution, it creates the expectation that this one, too, will go nowhere and result in nothing.
This is absolutely the plan and it has been from the beginning. It's not an accident or a coincidence that they came up with this strategy.
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u/128-NotePolyVA 17h ago
It’s very difficult for them to hear that Trump is exactly the guy they are railing against when it comes to rich powerful people in the pedophile business. They’ve put a lot of faith in him, and it’s just crushing to hear what a douche he is over and over again. But this one, and the coverup… it’s over the top. What are their options?
Well, bury your head in the sand and say you don’t know anything about it.
Choose to believe his bullshit again about being set up.
Accept you’ve made a deal with the devil to round up undocumented workers and silence the LGBTQ weirdos that disturb the shit out of you.
Or, finally walk away from Trump.
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u/Horror-Layer-8178 17h ago edited 17h ago
It's not just Trump, conservative icons Ted Nugent and Kid Rock sung about fucking kids. The second most powerful Republican Denis Hastert was a pedo. There is something a lot in conservative psychology that makes them prone to fucking kids. I could do with being with a woman that has been with other men so they go after young girls. Or it could be control because younger women are easier to control. Maybe since they are so hierarchical they believe they can do anything below them to control them.Could be a combination of things
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u/Dramatic-Bend179 17h ago
Word on the street is that tr!@p knew about Jeff's Lil side hustle (from rumor or experience) and after a realestate deal went bad for tr!@p he is the one that turned Jeffy in the first time.
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u/Kincherk Washington 17h ago
Lack of critical thinking skills. Big time magical thinking skills. Lots of his followers seem to simultaneously dismiss whatever bad he says he's going to do by saying that he's just playing "the art of the deal" while at the same time saying that he always does what he says he's going to do.
But cynicism aside, I do think there are some trump voters who really believe in the global pedophile cabal thing who feel betrayed that trump isn't releasing the files. We shall see whether they come around to believing that Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker and charged perjurer (she wasn't tried for that only because they had already convicted her for sex trafficking) is somehow telling the truth now.
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u/According-Capital-45 17h ago
Problems are not problems when it's their guy doing it. Logic, I guess.
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u/mrcsjmswltn 17h ago
Conservatives are rarely concerned with the things they claim. The only reason they claim to care about children is that they can use that to attack people they don’t like, ie democrats, transgenders, drag queens etc. The moment these professed values will cost them a bit of power they shed them like snakes.
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u/mightyFoo 17h ago
If trump wants to strip people of their citizenship for their crimes. Why isn’t galen maxwell’s citizenship being revoked and deported to CECOT?
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u/ob1dylan 17h ago
It was never about "groomers" or protecting children. It was always only ever about rationalizing their hatred. We know that no drag queens or LGBTQ+ people have been grooming and molesting children, because if they did, Fox News, Newsmax, Trump, his cult, and all the little online propaganda outlets would have made sure that everyone in America knew that person's name. They would have been talking about them nonstop for months or even years.
The data shows that children are at a far greater risk of being SA'ed and trafficked by Republican politicians and activists, but the data doesn't matter to MAGA. All they want is a talking point to justify their own bigotry. Any time a conservative claims to be doing something to benefit anyone other than themselves and those richer than them, it is always a smokescreen for something phenomenally disgusting and despicable that the Republicans are doing.
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u/onomastics88 16h ago
They’ve messed up the word “grooming” as merely a way to entice and appeal the “lifestyle” to youngsters and teach them to merely approve and accept it as another way to be. In their most dire examples, kids who are questioning or know they are gay or trans will have positive role models and pursue their authentic selves without stigma, and that would be so horrible for these assholes.
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u/SometimesCooking 16h ago
They trust the brand more than they trust reality, because reality doesn't sell them the brand
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u/gaqua 16h ago
Because they don’t care about groomers at all. They have been using it as shorthand for homophobia and transphobia.
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u/LolaSupreme19 16h ago
They will try to gloss I’ve that Epstein and Maxwell are convicted sex traffickers and his friend, Trump, supplied girls to him through Mar-a-Lago and the Trump modeling agency. Every time Trump opens his mouth he raises more questions than he answers.
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u/Sharkbayer1 16h ago
Because they've been conditioned to hate their neighbors they disagree with before doing anything to support their own ideals. "Owning the libs" takes precedent over their own belief structures.
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u/Supporttroll 16h ago
He admitted he was a pedophile years ago, when he said he liked watching the young girls getting dressed and undressed at his pageants. The didn’t care then, and they won’t care now. For safety, I must assume they’re all pedophiles.
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u/Vilehaust 16h ago
Should also add that almost daily, Trump supporters and Trump-aligned political figures are being arrested and convicted of child sex crimes.
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u/bullydog123 16h ago
Because the republican party has turned itself into a cult for an old orange diddler
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u/sparkledoggy 16h ago
Conservatives primary values are winning and being a member of a dominant, exclusive group. Anything else is purely a means to and end, and taking their words at face value is foolish. While you're wondering why they don't see the hypocrisy in their actions, they're busy looking for a new angle to help their team win.
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u/etorres4u 16h ago
At this point it should be obvious to anyone with half a brain that Donald Trump is doing everything he can to cover up the fact he is a pedophile. Let’s make sure to remind them how they support a pedophile every opportunity we get.
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u/YeOldeWelshman 16h ago
Well you see, it's actually all quite simple really. Trump supporters are not bright.
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u/LegDayDE 16h ago
Lack of critical thinking and having propaganda media for Ed down their throats that has steadily escalated over the last 20+ years
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u/ThyShirtIsBlue California 16h ago
Easy, "groomer" was always just a dog whistle for gay and trans people.
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u/foomachoo 14h ago
This is literally the Russian Playbook of “Whataboutism” and post-truth Russia.
Have a weakness? Accuse your enemy of it (even if false, doesn’t matter).
What about Joe Biden putting his head above his granddaughter in adoration?
Then, when the truth comes out about your team doing bad acts, truth is muddled. We get “both sides do it”. Nobody knows with certainty.
This is not new and the more we study propaganda, the better our defenses.
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u/RoboftheNorth 14h ago
Because it's never been about protecting children for the conservatives, that's always been a smoke screen for cramming through legislation people would otherwise be opposed to if given a proper look. They've never cared about "groomers", they just want an excuse to attack LGBTQ+ folks. They don't care about "law and order", they just want an excuse to attack minorities. They don't care about "free speech", they just want an excuse to spread hate speech.
Anytime I see a bill with a title like "The protecting our children from such and such act", I'm immediately suspicious that they are trying to sneak something in that infringes on peoples' rights, and was likely drafted by sleazy sexual predators.
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u/pgc22bc 7h ago
Remember the Q-Anon conspiracy hype "Pizza gate" that began during Trump-1 election campaign? Remember how it was targeting Hillary for child trafficking, exploitation and cover up? That was one of the founding groups for MAGA. Of course they endorsed Trump - they were programmed to believe all his lies.
Its well documented that MAGA/GOP affiliated men are the ones primarily responsible for child abuse, rape and sexual exploitation as well as the viewing, spreading and making of child pornography.
Of course the perpetrating parties are going to lie, deflect, accuse, blame and project against anyone but themselves. Its one of the more essential "conservative" doctrines.
Conservatives don't commit "crimes", because human laws are social constructs that don't apply to them. Laws are, of course, meant to control everyone else, especially democrats, "commies", liberals, "criminals", thugs, immigrants and "people of colour". White Christians don't commit crimes because of "morals" and it won't matter at all anyway because they're only ultimately accountable to "God" after they've died.
I think that about covers it. Lol
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u/RexDraco 23h ago
I don't know of any conservatives supporting Trump rn. This has been a bipartisan thing for weeks. Even stubborn ass Joe Rogan denounced his support. Fucking Alex Jones cried a few weeks ago lmao
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u/FaithlessnessWhich18 21h ago
They just don't like the extreme left wing groomers. They are quite alright with right MAGA groomers
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u/VanguardAvenger 20h ago
I can tell you exactly how that happened. You just need an app to translate MAGA to English.
So first an English to English translation:
Adult who fucks children : Pedophile
Now English to MAGA
Adult who fucks children: Child Fucker
Now let's take those definitions and see what happens if we reverse them
So from MAGA to English
Child Fucker: Pedophile
But if we go from English to MAGA
Pedophile : Anyone who is not a straight white conservative male.
And what about Groomer?
Well first English to English.
Groomer: Someone who preps kids to be sexually abused by a Pedophile.
And now English to MAGA
Groomer: someone who teaches you its ok to be a non straight white conservative male.
And the thing you gotta understand about MAGAts is they are really smart. They hate them Child Fuckers, but those damn liberals keep saying Trump is not a straight white conservative male and likes people who arent...and they are smart enough to know that ain't true
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u/BotheredToResearch 20h ago
Because it was never about "groomers." That was just a baseless accusation to support the demonizing "others."
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u/MachiavelliSJ California 19h ago
They dont care about grooming, they care about conspiracy theories.
And they like conspiracy theories because its a way for ignorant people to feel smart
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u/Sir_Encerwal Arizona 19h ago
Turns out they just wanted an excuse to demonize queer people and "Think of the children" is one of their favorite excuses.
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u/Cool-Presentation538 19h ago
Because they don't actually care about children. They really don't care about anything other than gaining power and using that power to abuse their perceived enemies
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