Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive in well, in the media, in the White House, and, per a recently released study, in the murky waters of online dating sites.
A June poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek proved what conservatives already knew: the party of tolerance is anything but. Republicans are far more likely to date someone who holds opposing political views than Democrats.
Seventy-four percent of Trump supporters would “absolutely” or “maybe” date a liberal. In contrast, only 71% of Biden supporters would date a Trump voter. Only 25% of conservatives firmly draw the line at dating a liberal, while 29% of Biden voters consider that a hard “swipe left.”
The intolerance is not just in the world of dating. Thirty-seven percent of liberals refuse to be friends with a Trump supporter, while only 5% of Republicans allow opposing political views to factor into forming and maintaining friendships.
As Biden and Trump remain the top contenders for their presidential nominations, the rift between liberals and conservatives continues to grow. Support remains higher than expected for Biden, despite his July 1 approval rating dropping to below 40%.
Per the survey, Democrats would rather date pot smokers than be seen with Trump supporters. Of the participants, 59% of liberals would date a “heavy” pot smoker, with only 41% of Biden supporters saying they would not date one. Predictably, only 50% of conservatives would date a pot smoker.
Predictably, the dating scene in colleges shows the same narrow-minded disparities in liberals, with an astonishing 71% of college-aged liberals saying they refuse to date a Trump supporter. Conservative college kids, on the other hand, are more open-minded. Only 31% of conservative students would refuse to date someone whose political views do not align with their own.
One resident of Los Angeles, California, believes that long-term relationships “are built on a foundation of shared values.” He said, “It’s so much easier knowing right off the bat if he or she embodies progressive ideals.”
“I would never date a Republican because I fundamentally and vehemently disagree with everything the Republican Party stands for today,” a New York City resident said to Newsweek in March 2023. “To align yourself with the Republicans in 2023 is to align with hatred, bigotry, racism and extreme misinformation that has this country and effectively the planet headed in a very dangerous direction.” She went on to say that dating a Republican would “be non-stop torture for me.”
Conversely, a San Bernardino, California single remarked, “I was raised in a very Christian and traditional family, and a relationship with a liberal would simply not work for me in the long run.” He went on to explain, “How can I build a family with someone who doesn’t believe in family values? How can I have a child with someone who is not pro-life?”
Political views have become one of the vetting criteria in some popular online dating sites, allowing people to choose between conservative, liberal, and “other” views. Similarly, potential daters can filter out those with opposing views for their list of potential dates.
But for those who hold extreme disdain for opposing political views, websites abound. Alex Felipelli founded the liberal dating website Lefty, stating that “opposites don’t always attract.” Other leftist sites include LiberalHearts, and Meetville.
Conservatives can turn to sites such as The Right Stuff, ConservativesOnly.com, and Righter.
More mainstream sights, like OKCupid, aren’t conservative-friendly. In 2017, Mashable advised online daters, “Want to find success on OkCupid? Don’t be a Republican.”
For conservatives, some well-known dating sites, like Match.com, offer a more conservative selection of potential dates for all ages. SilverSingles is an excellent dating app for conservatives over the age of fifty, and of course, Christian Mingle is a desert wasteland for progressives but an oasis for conservatives.
It’s revealing that liberals are still obsessed with Trump, a man who has been out of office for more than two years and no longer holds the power to ruffle their feathers on the political stage. It’s a symptom of a much deeper issue for a person to list in their online dating biography, “Trump supporters swipe left.”
But conservatives should heed the advice and quickly swipe left. Self-proclaimed mental illness is not an attractive feature in a potential date.
