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from https://thehill.com/opinion/robbys-radar/5402051-lol-nyt-writer-admits-that-shaming-right-wing-family-members-failed/

LOL: NYT writer admits that shaming right-wing family members failed
by Robby Soave, opinion contributor - 07/15/25 1:36 PM ET

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One of my favorite recurring features in the mainstream media rCo maybe
itrCOs a favorite of yours as well rCo is when some progressive liberal in
The New York Times or The Atlantic or elsewhere writes a column on how
to avoid your conservative family members during Thanksgiving, or
Christmas, or even the Fourth of July.

The premise of these articles is always the same: The toxic rightwing
views of your grandma, or your Uncle Steve, or your great aunt Betty, constitute a form of emotional labor that you, a good, moral, upstanding progressive should not have to be subjected to.

Some of these entries donrCOt merely suggest that liberals should avoid
and shun rightwing family members and friends rCo they actually suggest
that you should belittle or mock them. You may remember a ghastly Los
Angeles Times column with this title: rCLMocking anti-vaxxerrCOs COVID
deaths is ghoulish, yes rCo but necessary.rCY

Indeed, COVID vaccine skeptics were a favorite target of liberal op-ed
writers year after year. But now, one card-carrying member of the
liberal establishment, former Obama speechwriter David Litt, thinks that showing conservatives and covid vaccine skeptics was, in fact, a mistake
of sorts.

And he has a new piece in The New York Times that makes that case. ItrCOs called rCLIs It Time to Stop Snubbing Your Right-Wing Family?rCY

The Hill's Headlines | PM - August 1, 2025

IrCOd say it was never time to snub your family over politics in the first place. But better late than never, I suppose.

In his op-ed, Litt explains how for years he sort of tried to avoid
making conversation with his brother-in-law, Matt, an ardent Joe Rogan
fan who possesses contrarian, non-mainstream opinions that arenrCOt universally right-wing but are definitely non-progressive.

Matt, importantly, declined to get the COVID vaccine, a choice that
David disdained. He wrote the following in his New York Times column:
rCLWe were on opposite sides of a cultural civil war. The deepest divide
was vaccination. I wasnrCOt shocked when Matt didnrCOt get the COVID shot.
But I was baffled. Turning down a vaccine during a pandemic seemed like
a rejection of science and self-preservation. It felt like he was
tearing up the social contract that, until that point, IrCOd imagined we shared. Had Matt been a friend rather than a family member, I probably
would have cut off contact completely. As it was, on the rare and always outdoor occasions when we saw each other, I spoke in disapproving snippets.rCY

To DavidrCOs credit, he admits in the column that herCOs decided he was
wrong to snub his vaccine-hesitant relative. David says that this
siloing effect, whereby we start only interacting with people with whom
we totally agree, is unhealthy for the country. He writes, rCLWhen we cut
off contacts, or let algorithms sort us into warring factions, we forget
that not so long ago, we used to have things to talk about that didnrCOt involve politics. Shunning plays into the hands of demagogues, making it easier for them to divide us and even, in some cases, to incite violence.rCY

I agree with that, and IrCOm glad David no longer thinks that itrCOs a good idea to shun people over politics as a general principle. HerCOs sorry he
did that and admits he was wrong.

But hererCOs the thing: ShouldnrCOt David also admit that his main beef with his relative rCo the thing that so riled him up about right-wing people rCo was a fervent belief that David ended up being wrong about, namely the importance of the COVID vaccine?

Nowhere in his column does this progressive New York Times writer rCo who
was willing to shun someone for not getting the jab rCo acknowledge that
as it turned out, getting that vaccine is a personal choice that doesnrCOt have much bearing on other peoplerCOs health.

David writes that choosing not to get the vaccine was shredding the
social contract. Actually, no, forcing people to get the COVID vaccine
on pain of losing their jobs rCo now that was shredding the social
contract. And itrCOs exactly what former President Joe Biden tried to do, until the Supreme Court stopped him.

So while IrCOm happy to see New York Times liberals admit that itrCOs bad
form to lose friends and family members over politics, IrCOd also like to
see them admit that when it came to this issue, specifically, they were really, really wrong.

But donrCOt worry. To any liberal friends and family members, IrCOm
certainly not going to shun you because of it.

Robby Soave is co-host of The HillrCOs commentary show rCLRisingrCY and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited
transcription of his on-air commentary.

Tags Joe Biden Joe Rogan Obama
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