Struggling With A Friend Who Claims To Not Be Political? How Do I Get Over It?
For context, I'm in the south, so I can't avoid those who voted for trump, as in my state, that is a large majority. I believe that in order to change things, we have to talk to those who are willing to listen. I also have moved to various places between the ages of 14-22, to include me being in the military 4 of those years. I have a friend who was left leaning when we were teens but then started shifting right during COVID. It confused me as to why, but I didn't question it as much because where I'm from, that was the norm and she wasn't being rude about sharing her opinion. 2024, my feelings changed. We would talk politics and I used to get heated about it because of my justice sensitivity. I have changed how I go about the conversation, but even then, she still refuses to engage most days. 2024, she voted for trump a second time, despite not liking him. She said months later it was "the right thing to do" as her reason, despite saying she wasn't a political person. I had cut her off end of 2024 to end of 2025 because I could not handle the fact she voted against her own self interest. And it hurt me that a close friend would do that. There are certain topics I will not touch with her now that we are talking again - Charlie Kirk, states rights, conflict with Iran, systemic racism, etc. But with what has been happening in our states regarding the Voting Rights Act, I feel like she deserves to know because of where she resides. And that what happened will go against her opinion of "systemic racism not being a prevalent issue anymore." She has said that she is avoiding the news at the moment, even if it doesn't have to do with politics.
Look, I completely get actually not having time or simply trying to limit screen time, and having different tolerances...but it's hard to completely avoid the news, right? We do have quite a bit in common as far as most of our values, and she has changed her mind on some things compared to 2024. But it's hard for me to even talk about the day to day stuff without feeling this sadness or anger that she won't acknowledge what is happening in the US, or she ignores it. What do I do?