The Triumph of Failure: My Day at the Military Parade

I went to the military parade with my angry friend Alex to talk with MAGA people. I really wanted to see how they were benefiting from the Trump administration. A key takeaway was Trump supporters like his policies, even though he’s made things cost more - but if things cost more during Biden’s time, then that was bad. I also met a traitor for the first time. He was part of the insurrection on January 6th and received a pardon from President Trump for trying to overthrow the country. Alex had a conversation with him, check that out, as well as what others compiled, here.

Salaam talking with a motorcyclist from California.

Below are some conversations I had, which I shared on my Threads account. Videos will be edited throughout the week and posted on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Click on the links to follow and be the first to see the videos!

Respect

Me: What's your fave thing Trump did?

MAGA lady: countries respect us again

Me: Which countries specifically?

MAGA lady: Israel, Saudi Arabia.

Me: North Korea?

MAGA Lady: Yeah, North Korea

US AID

Me: What’s your fave thing Trump has done this term?

MAGA lady: Cut USAID funding.

Me: A report says 300k people died because of that.

MAGA man: We don’t know that it is correlated.

MAGA lady: Could be natural causes

Me: Like starvation?

MAGA lady: Yeah

Proselytizing about the utility of fanny packs.

States’ Rights…?

Me: What do you like about the Big Beautiful Bill?

MAGA Man: The ten-year ban on states regulating AI is against federalism…but it’s good because then California doesn’t control the narrative.

Stopping Fentanyl

Me: What’s your favorite thing Trump has done?

MAGA Lady: Trump has stopped so much fentanyl. All of those shipments could have killed every single American!

Me: Wow, so who would be left to buy the fentanyl if we’re all dead?

Lady: Oh…hmm.

---

I did have some deeper conversations with younger people who put a lot more critical thought into the talking points they were hearing.

One high schooler grappled with the “no tax on tips” item in the Budget Bill after I asked whether it’d be an improvement to simply have servers be paid at least a minimum wage. He said that someone working full-time at a fast food place should not make enough money to make a living. (Mind you, fast food workers don’t receive tips.) He added that this should incentivize them to get an education or skills to get higher pay. However, if they are using that job’s pay to pay for school to get a better-paying job, then they’re out of luck.

We ended the conversation with him saying he’ll be in the White House one day.

That’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to - I’m looking forward to sharing these videos with you soon!