Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some fired federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their job loss.

Summary

Recently terminated federal workers face not only unemployment challenges but also hurtful reactions from family members who support the government cuts.

Luke Tobin, fired from the Forest Service, and Kristin Jenn, whose Park Service job was frozen, describe relatives celebrating their job losses as necessary to “make the government great again.”

Former Park Service employee Riley Rackliffe encountered social media comments calling him a “glorified pool boy” despite his Ph.D.

Some workers report family members unfriending them on social media or dismissing their positions as “waste.”

  • @[email protected]English
    9•2 days ago

    I don’t blame anyone for cutting MAGA folks off at this point, but it depresses me that it will just make the problem worse. Even if minimal, your contact with them impedes propaganda by, even a little, preventing their reality from going unopposed.

    It’s not your responsibility, but disconnecting is a natural vicious cycle, a radicalization accelerant.

    • @big_slap
      5•2 days ago

      man, I get it. but it just brings me down when I try to talk to these people. I’ll reconnect after awhile, but now? idk…