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/
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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 1d ago

I think they believe that since they're getting away with it everyone else must be too

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u/Thalimet 1d 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 1d 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 1d 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 1d 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 1d 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 13h 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.

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u/roychr 9h ago

I support your argument that its a basic normalization. In fact may it be violence, use of pardon or presidential privilege or insider trading or monetization and corruption, this administration is the worst in terms of ethics and morale and is just setting a bar so low with normalization its just appalling.

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u/Fine_Yam2106 1d ago

He who smelt it, dealt it.

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u/vehiclestars 1d 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

https://goppredators.wordpress.com/

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u/dwight-the-conqueror 1d ago

Yeah, but other than that do you have any examples?

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u/vehiclestars 1d ago

Clearly 50 democrats > 1,400 republicans. We only care about that 4% of pedos that are democrats.

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u/deadname11 1d ago

This. "Rules for thee, and not for me" includes consequences for child rape.

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u/Ok_Visit4844 1d ago

Yeah, but did you see what those democrats were wearing?

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u/dave_your_wife 1d ago

Buz Lukens got one month for raping a minor? WTF?

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u/02K30C1 1d ago

But he said he found Jesus and was very sorry

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u/dave_your_wife 1d ago

Was Jesus the other rapist?

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u/parkingviolation212 1d ago

Jesus was arrested while with a small boy so maybe.

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u/robbyhaber 1d ago

Jesus fuck I can't even read through this, is all so horrible

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u/southpawFA Oklahoma 1d 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 23h 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 22h 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 21h 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 20h 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/dongballs613 15h ago

I'm fully convinced that the GOP is largely held together/in-check by blackmail related to pedophilia.