Yes, talk to Trump supporters, but 'don't do the liberal flinch'

How do you talk to a Trump supporter? You may not know any Trump supporters. Or if you do, you don’t know how to have a conversation that doesn’t go off the rails.

Writer George Saunders shared some ideas with KUOW’s Ross Reynolds.

“Don’t do the liberal flinch – that thing where if somebody hits you in the head with a rock you say, ‘Thank you so much for the geology lesson,’” Saunders said. “We’re citizens too, so we have the right to be firm.”

During the heat of the presidential campaign, he wrote an article for The New Yorker titled, “Who Are All These Trump Supporters?”

It was based on conversations he had at Trump rallies.

“The best stance for me as a reporter was confident, funny, affable – not angry, not afraid. Just engaging them like another dude, another chick,” he said.

“Let’s assume these people are not off the spectrum of our experience. But at the same time, don’t take any crap.”