She used to be my best friend....and then she drank the Kool Aid.
I met her in 1987, and we became best friends. We laughed and had a lot of good times. And we ate a lot of ice cream as we carried each other through the bad times!
In 1996, she got divorced from Husband 1 and married The Asshole. It was hard for me to really pinpoint what it was about this guy that I disliked so much, because there wasn't a word for it (yet). But she loved him so *shrugs.* I wanted her to be happy.
After that, we didn't spend as much time together. He didn't approve of her spending time alone with me and I didn't approve of his obnoxious behavior.
But the friendship endured.
in 2015, I clearly remember talking with her about Donald Trump. She hated him, and he was a narcissist, (she knew that because Husband 1 had been a narcissist, and she recognized the signs). "The guy's so stupid, he can't even speak a complete sentence!" she told me (referring to Trump, not Husband 1). The Asshole was in attendance. I remember seeing him simmering, but kept his mouth shut.
In 2016, she drank the Kool Aid. The transformation was swift.
Radical leftist Democrats were being paid to disrupt Trump rallies. Voting machines were deleting votes. The 2020 election was rigged. COVID was a conspiracy manufactured to make Trump look bad. Fauci was colluding with Big Pharma. Global warming was a hoax. Vaccines cause autism, and wind turbines cause cancer. And of course, there were enemies everywhere! Gay people, brown people, non-conservative religious people, black people, educated people in Universities, bisexual people, Muslims, Mexicans, Immigrants of all kinds, non-breeding cat ladies, climate scientists, the mainstream press, and especially - Democrats. Antifa! *gasp.*
It's been hard to watch. I've tried to respect her opinions, to keep my mouth shut, to calmly speak the truth when I saw an opening.
Years ago, I couldn't figure out why I didn't like The Asshole, but now I get it: I didn't like him because he was a MAGA - long before the acronym became a noun. But now, The Asshole doesn't have to keep his mouth shut. Trump has validated him, emboldened him. Now he can publicly and proudly spew his white supremacist, fascist loving rhetoric all while claiming to be a patriotic American and a God-fearing Christian!
Every day, the corruption becomes more blatant. People are dying and disappearing into detention centers. Trump consolidates his power and increases his fortune, with no regard for the Constitution, the free press, or the American people. To the world, we are (at best) a laughing stock, and (at worse) war mongering, armed and dangerous. Democracy struggles to breath.
And she has the audacity to question how I could say such mean things about the best President ever! Obviously, I have been brainwashed by the radical Left and I am now Antifa!
In 2026 our friendship will come to an end. I used to love the woman she was, but that woman is gone. She was once kind, intelligent, had a great sense of humor, and was gentle. But that has been stripped away, sandblasted by the constant propaganda. It has revealed a core that is something far less than the woman I once knew.
Nothing lasts forever. Not even friendships forged with laughter and ice cream.
= new reply since forum marked as read
To have been as close as you two were and then to have it ripped away--it's very painful and hard to get away from.
My deep condolences.
and I am so sorry.
However many Americans were lucky enough to receive a good education and we know how to turn off the TV set.
"click" ... bye-bye...
Here’s to a happy ending, if possible.
It fucking sucks. One of my best friends from high school and I used to hang out all the time. We even went to rallies like an anti-Prop 8 (the California gay marriage bill) together. But then one day he fell for the Fox Kool-Aid. I went over to his house because we were going to go out and have a couple of beers and he's like "Hey I really like this Glenn Beck guy!". Instant puke. It only got progressively worse from there. A couple of years later, he was into full blown Alex Jones conspiracy theories.
We and a couple of other friends got together after COVID restrictions were lifted and found out that a mutual acquaintance of ours was in January 6th and was actually part of the mob that was entering the Capitol. He also took a vacation in 2020 when everything was shut down and went to the Sturgis biker rally. He didn't own a motorcycle. It was pretty much over by then. 
she have Stockholm Syndrome? Maybe accepting Asshole's opinions and behavior is emotionally necessary for her marriage to survive, or for her to survive. 