Give thanks
Olivia Troye is now a regular guest on cable news networks not in the grip of the MAGA cult. Her experiences as Homeland Security and Counterterrorism advisor to Vice President Mike Pence during the Tump administration left her both changed and politcally homeless. Troye’s Thanksgiving message reminded me of another story of political transformation I once witnessed.
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Troye writes:
I’m especially grateful for the incredible gift of finding a new tribe. Taking a stand has often left me in political no-man’s land, but in that space, I’ve discovered something profound—a community of people like you. Your support, courage, and shared belief in doing what’s right have reminded me that I’m not alone. Together, we are building something stronger than partisanship: a tribe rooted in shared values, integrity, and hope for the future. Thank you for being my tribe.
Gratitude is a powerful force, but its true strength lies in its ability to inspire us to be better—for ourselves, one another, and the country we love.
That’s something we can all be thankful for.
Before MAGA came the T-party. Many on the right erupted into into paroxysms of rage at the election in 2008 of the country’s first Black president. Before Trumpism and red hats, the T-party cosplayed as revolutionary war soldiers. They pretended their loud protests had to do with tax policy and not white freakout at having to share power with people designated untouchables by European settlers 400 years ago.
The party’s reactionary turn unnerved a couple of local activists who, like Troye, began moving away from the county Republican Party. A few years later, the former chapter chair of Republican Women decided to run for county commission as an independent. It was a district in which Democrats failed to field a candidate. We offered to help.
At the end of her first monthly meeting with us, she stood, and through tears expressed gratitude for our help and her welcome. And great relief.
“Y’all are actually doing something!” she said with some surprise. (We had not spent our meeting badmouthing Republicans.) We had our own goals, plans for action, and a positive agenda. Like Troye, she and her husband had found a new tribe. That break took guts. Today they are friends.
Half the country just chose to align themselves with the tribe my friends left a decade ago. The sadness in that is profound. But there is hope too. Not everyone on the right is there for Trumpism. Some are there out of political muscle memory. Welcome them when they turn.