Saturday, November 7, marked a day of jubilation for more than half of the United States when the state of Pennsylvania announced Joe Biden as the winner of the state. With those 21 electoral votes, he had enough to become the new President-Elect of the United States. However, another 70 million U.S. citizens are going through a hard time dealing with the loss.
Grief iterates the response to loss, particularly after a fractured bond with someone or something. Trump supporters around the nation are trying to cope right now, and it is a sad sight to see.
Politically and emotionally, the current president’s exit transition from the executive chair is intimate to the right-leaning demographic — and their feelings easily mold into a quintet of desolative divisions. Here are a few ways of guiding them through the five stages of grief.
Stage 1. Denial
Denial is the stage that Trump supporters are stuck in right now. At this stage, sufferers deny their loss, which serves as a way to numb the feelings.
Trump supporters are now on that stage where they deny the truth and reality of losing their idol. Stating that Mr. Orange didn’t lose and that the Democrats rigged the election — when both claims are false — are clear signs of stage one of grief.
This stage of denial ends when one arrives at an important event: realization. When realization comes around, people move onto the next stage of grief.
Stage 2. Anger
Trump supporters often come off to be dangerous and irritable people, so this stage should be natural for them. Though, this particular phase can get tricky. Although many sufferers may still be in denial, some of them are naturally angry, so one might mistakenly believe that they are in stage two.
Those in the stage of anger will bash our elected president, praise Mr. Trump, and say things like “you’re all going to hell!”, “the communists have taken over!” and so forth.
Stage 3. Bargaining
Other than bargaining people’s rights away by voting for a Reality-TV star, Trump supporters’ bargaining skills are very limited. Therefore, this might be a hard stage for them. Being a Trump supporter when the beloved president is no longer in office is bound to bring about a backlash, and they will start wondering about the “what ifs”.
“What if” and “If Only” is what the Bargaining stage is all about. During this stage, people who believe in a higher power tend to resort to it for help. It is normal in this stage to see Christians praying and making promises to God, as these kinds of acts make the person feel as though they are in control of something when they’re really not in control of anything.
For example, at this stage, Trump supporters are either protesting, screaming in the streets, or instigating social media threats. This helps them feel like they are in control of the whole country, even though they aren’t.
During this stage, the feeling of helplessness already starts pouring in, and it is normal for people to ponder on their regrets.
Stage 4. Depression
As in the coming months, there will officially be no more Trump. Most Trump supporters are likely to go into this stage by next year, January 2021. Some of them are already in the fourth stage. Some have decided to follow their leader and have logged off of social media.
Resembling middle schoolers craving attention, Trump supporters have posted, “Logging off of social media, don’t reach out” in their status. Others have made their isolation more extreme by deciding not to celebrate Thanksgiving.
However, some people (everyone in the right state of mind) believe that Trump supporters going quiet is a good asset to our democracy.
Stage 5. Acceptance
In the process of acceptance, people learn to see the positive things in life and finally appreciate everything around them.
Trump has created a culture of selective blindness and stubbornness amongst his supporters; therefore, acceptance will take a lot of work. On the other hand, there are some positive things that Trump supporters can think about when they finally reach this stage.
First, the U.S. will no longer have a white supremacist, homophobic criminal in office. Second, it will have a first lady who actually cares more about children in cages than about Christmas decor. Finally, thanks to Joe Biden and his plan to combat the coronavirus, fewer people will die and the coronavirus will be over faster than it ever would have been before.
Grief is a serious matter, and it is important to cope with it in a healthy fashion. During most of these stages people are propense to feel extreme emotions and sometimes that could lead to extreme action taken by the person experiencing the grief; meaning, if there is ever a case of suicidal thoughts it is important to talk to people for help.
If anyone ever finds themselves in this position, don’t hesitate to reach out. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255.
