David Silverman, one of America’s most prominent atheists, says he’s so troubled by the Democratic Party’s radical shift to the left and the mowing down of libertarian principles that he may do the unthinkable: vote Trump.
Silverman’s face became a popular online meme after his 2011 stand-off with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News, in which he reacted with a particularly perplexed face to the host’s “tide goes in, tide goes out” argument supposedly proving the existence of God. It now appears that Joe Biden’s Tuesday pick of the Senator Kamala Harris (D-California) as his running mate has triggered a new major “Are You Serious?” moment for David.
“I’m literally thinking of voting red right now,” Silverman tweeted Tuesday, after the news about Harris broke. “I used to say ‘I’m so blue I make the sky look red.’ I haven’t changed. The left has.”
I’m upset. I’m literally thinking of voting red right now. Me. David Silverman. I used to say “I’m so blue I make the sky look red”. I haven’t changed, the Left has. And here I sit contemplating the pussy grabbing crook, because cops and due process and free speech? WTF?
Silverman was president of the American Atheists activist group from 2010 to 2018 and authored the books ‘I, Atheist’ and ‘Fighting God.’ He was fired by the group in 2018, amid allegations of sexual assault, but not before raising the organization’s profile by doing interviews on Fox News, organizing the Reason Rally in Washington, DC and posting anti-Christmas billboard ads around the country.
For an atheist of Silverman’s standing to even flirt with voting Republican – and for President Donald Trump, no less – is startling. A 2017 Baylor University study of religious voting trends found that “almost no atheists voted for Trump” in 2016, according to survey director Paul Froese.
Silverman doesn’t appear to be alone in his concerns, as the Democrats’ leftward shift is alienating some of its traditional strongholds.
“I’m right there with you,” Michael Trollan, founding chairman of Atheists for Liberty, agreed with Silverman on Twitter. “If you value due process, free speech, not discriminating by skin color or gender, standing up for the rights of individuals and many more along these lines – the far left (and the complacent left) should be horrifying right now.”
“It’s like they want me to vote orange,” Silverman replied, bringing up such Democrat initiatives as “Defunding the police to dismantle an undefined ‘systemic racism’? The scientific method is white? Believe all women,” to ask, rhetorically, “What world is this? What left is this?”
Trollan replied that he manned an atheist booth at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington, where the “vast majority of conservatives were completely welcoming.”
Times have changed dramatically in the last five years,” he added.
Conservatives were just as happy to see Silverman’s disgust over today’s Democrat politics.
“Join us,” said author and podcaster Jack Murphy, a former Democrat himself. “Ditch the Democrats. There are real moral and philosophical reasons to do so.”
Actor James Woods said Silverman’s tweet marks a groundbreaking shift. “He’s facing the same decision I did when I was a registered Democrat for 30 years,” Woods said. “The party went so far left, it dropped off the cliff of sanity. I had no choice and neither does Mr. Silverman.”
This is a truly significant tweet. Mr. Silverman is an unabashed liberal Democrat. He’s facing the same decision I did when I was a registered Democrat for 30 years. The party went so far left, it dropped off the cliff of sanity. I had no choice and neither does Mr. Silverman. https://t.co/ly3x3FXNUJ
Several Twitter users agreed that they planned to vote Republican for the first time, citing similar concerns.
My 96-year-old black grandmother had been a lifelong [Democrat], but she’ll be voting red for the first time in her life come November,” said a netizen with the account name A Notable Exception. “You aren’t alone. There are many of us.”
My 96 yr old black grandmother HAD been a lifelong dem but she’ll be voting red for the first time in her life come Nov.You arent alone. There are many of us.
Others tried to discourage Silverman from abandoning the Democrats, however.
“Don’t be irrational,” one tweet said. “I hate [Harris] too, but Trump is a far bigger danger.”
“This makes me so said,” said another. “I know many feel like you do. Four more years of the same from Trump is just untenable. Thinking about him being allowed to carry on with the damage he’s already done makes me sick to my stomach.”
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