FTI: Understanding the perspective of Trump Supporters

In today’s polarized world, real dialogue often gets lost in the noise. This event is designed to create space for listening rather than debating. Join us for a moderated panel of Trump supporters, where our goal will be to listen to understand. Together, we will explore: * What draws them to Donald Trump as a leader. * Which information sources they rely on most. * Why they trust those sources. This is not a debate or a forum for persuasion—it’s an exercise in empathy, curiosity, and deeper understanding. By listening without judgment, we strengthen our ability to connect across differences, identify shared values, and better understand the forces shaping our communities and our country. Come prepared to listen actively, ask respectful questions, and practice the discipline of understanding before responding. **Our panel includes:** Stephen De Luca is an attorney with more than 30 years of experience, including clerking for a United States Judge for the Court of International Trade, serving in the Office of Chief Counsel for Import Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, managing teams of up to 700+ attorneys working on complex litigation and regulatory matters for some of the world's largest law firms, and representing individual, business and corporate clients in a wide range of matters before administrative agencies, arbitrations, mediations, and state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels. He currently serves as a Special Associate in the General Litigation Division of the NYC Law Department, Office of the Corporation Counsel, working on class action lawsuits brought against the City of New York and its agencies and officials. He has served as a volunteer attorney for the 2008 elections in Tampa, FL, the 2010 elections in Jersey City, NJ, and the 2020 elections in Erie and Pittsburgh, PA. He was the Republican nominee for County Executive for Hudson County in 2011 and an independent candidate for Congress for the 8th congressional district of New Jersey in 2012. He recently served on the Immigrant Affairs Commission for the City of Jersey City. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking. And he has worked with the Archdiocese of Newark and the Diocese of Paterson to ensure all clergy, employees, and volunteers are screened and trained in the prevention of child sex abuse. Stephen has a B.A. from the University of Rochester, a J.D. from Pace Law School, and an LL.M. and S.J.D. from Tulane Law School. Stephen is a former Naval Officer having served on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Midway (CV41), when it was permanently forward deployed out of Yokosuka, Japan. He lives in Lake Parsippany. Blake McBride is a software engineer, author, and business owner with a keen interest in philosophy and politics. As a lifelong non-religious Republican and a deep thinker, Blake recognizes the limitations of his knowledge and remains open to the possibility of being wrong. Throughout his forty years as an adult, he has encountered few individuals willing to engage in constructive discussions about politics. In recent times, the typical response has often been limited to ad hominem attacks, with little willingness to address the underlying issues. Blake eagerly anticipates the opportunity to share his perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of opposing viewpoints. Sean Miller: Sean Miller is the host of the meetup group ‘The Bridge: Liberal and Conservative Common Grounds.’ Sean is a Classic Liberal who voted for Obama, Hillary, and then Trump twice. Raised in a religious, conservative household, he was the black sheep liberal of the family who enjoyed debating culture at the dinner table. He believes dialogue across sides is only possible through emotional empathy, charity, and humor. Although agnostic, he speaks fluent conservative and progressive, and has been increasingly alarmed by the Democratic abandonment of Liberal principles and embrace of Critical Theory. **A little about our host:** Garrett is a programmer turned award-winning software inventor turned entrepreneur ([http://platerate.com/](http://platerate.com/)) is his company. His hobby is writing and discussing practical philosophy, and he does life coaching on request to help people live happy, moral lives. He is also the executive director of The Free Thinker Institute ([http://freethinkerinstitute.org/](http://freethinkerinstitute.org/)), which aims to create a community that helps members increase happiness and decrease harm for themselves and those they can influence. **Format:** Lecture and discussion **Note:** social time for our community 15 minutes before the presentation. To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel: [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zg](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zg) After registering via zoom, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We publish our event recordings on our Youtube channel to offer our help to anyone who would like to but can’t attend the meeting, so we need to give this clause. If you don’t want to be recorded, just remain on mute and keep your video off. Here’s our legal notice: For valuable consideration received, by joining this event I hereby grant Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns, the irrevocable and unrestricted right to use and publish any and all Zoom recordings for trade, advertising and any other commercial purpose, and to alter the same without any restriction. I hereby release Free Thinker Institute and its legal representatives and assigns from all claims and liability related to said video recordings.