My (36M) Trump supporting boss just hired a woman (54) with zero relevant experience, and for some reason, I’ve been tasked with training her. From day one, she’s made it crystal clear she’s part of the MAGA tribe and not in a subtle way. It’s like the old joke about how you don’t have to ask if someone’s vegan they’ll tell you. Same goes for her and politics.
All she’s talked about is Elon Musk, how amazing DOGE is, how liberals are burning Teslas, how Trump’s tariffs saved the economy, how vaccines are bad… you get the idea. Every one of her talking points is pulled straight from ChatGPT she literally asks it questions mid convo to spark random convos with me unrelated to work.
I’ve tried keeping it professional saying things like “I don’t really talk politics at work” or “I’m an independent. I don’t care for either party. So having these discussions with me is like talking to a brick wall.” But she just steamrolls past that and keeps going. It’s honestly wild. She tried telling me tariffs were good for the Great Depression, and when I brought up the Smoot-Hawley disaster, she immediately typed “What are the Smoot-Hawley tariffs and how did tariffs help the Great Depression?” into ChatGPT like it was some kind of answer oracle.
She also told me we’re going to tariff U.S. companies until they bring jobs back, and when I asked her why companies would care if their products become 25% more expensive if they’re still the only supplier, she said, “That’s not how it works,” and… again, went straight to ChatGPT for a rebuttal. Funnily enough, she praised the McKinley Tariffs. My eyes were saucer plates, but I maintained my “oblivious” composure.
It’s exhausting. I don’t even know how she got hired (I’m lying it’s obvious, but where he found her is a mystery). My boss is constantly losing employees and is already on a perpetual performance improvement plan for not being able to retain his team. I give her a year max before she’s gone.
So yeah… how do you stay sane in a situation like this? How do you deal with training someone who’s not only clueless about the job but treats every conversation like a chance to convert you to their political side?
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My (36M) Trump supporting boss just hired a woman (54) with zero relevant experience, and for some reason, I’ve been tasked with training her. From day one, she’s made it crystal clear she’s part of the MAGA tribe and not in a subtle way. It’s like the old joke about how you don’t have to ask if someone’s vegan they’ll tell you. Same goes for her and politics.
All she’s talked about is Elon Musk, how amazing DOGE is, how liberals are burning Teslas, how Trump’s tariffs saved the economy, how vaccines are bad… you get the idea. Every one of her talking points is pulled straight from ChatGPT she literally asks it questions mid convo to spark random convos with me unrelated to work.
I’ve tried keeping it professional saying things like “I don’t really talk politics at work” or “I’m an independent. I don’t care for either party. So having these discussions with me is like talking to a brick wall.” But she just steamrolls past that and keeps going. It’s honestly wild. She tried telling me tariffs were good for the Great Depression, and when I brought up the Smoot-Hawley disaster, she immediately typed “What are the Smoot-Hawley tariffs and how did tariffs help the Great Depression?” into ChatGPT like it was some kind of answer oracle.
She also told me we’re going to tariff U.S. companies until they bring jobs back, and when I asked her why companies would care if their products become 25% more expensive if they’re still the only supplier, she said, “That’s not how it works,” and… again, went straight to ChatGPT for a rebuttal. Funnily enough, she praised the McKinley Tariffs. My eyes were saucer plates, but I maintained my “oblivious” composure.
It’s exhausting. I don’t even know how she got hired (I’m lying it’s obvious, but where he found her is a mystery). My boss is constantly losing employees and is already on a perpetual performance improvement plan for not being able to retain his team. I give her a year max before she’s gone.
So yeah… how do you stay sane in a situation like this? How do you deal with training someone who’s not only clueless about the job but treats every conversation like a chance to convert you to their political side?
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Can you go to your boss’ boys about this?
You can’t. They’re in a death cult. All you can do is report the problems to your boss, keep records of you helping them with their work, and make sure your work stays separate from what they’re doing.
Don’t engage with her about politics AT ALL. Literally when she brings up how vaccines are a cover for Bill Gates to insert a microchip say “okay, but we really need to dig into this right now”, where “this” is a work thing that you’re supposed to be training her on. You will have to repeat that dozens of times a day, but that’s still better than trying to rebut her claiming that the people at today’s protests were illegal immigrants who were mad about getting laid off from the Department of Transgender DEI.
I have a co-worker like this. I just tell her that birds aren’t real. And then I go in depth about how Nixon killed all the birds in 1973 and replaced them with drones to spy on Americans. I keep doing this until she shuts up which never takes long.
Be a professional adult.
Go have an adult conversation with her. Flat out tell her you don’t want to hear politics talk.
Go have an adult conversation with him. Tell him she’s woefully unqualified and an absolute nightmare to work with that will bring him trouble.
Do it all in writing.
Then tell his boss.
Just be a professional adult.
Gray Rock. They really go bonkers when their rantings aren’t indulged.
“Moving onto the actual work related task.”
Make it HR’s problem.
Sarcasm is one way to get a point across to closed minds..they don’t know they need to plug their ears til it’s too late
Start writing it all down with dates and times if possible. It’ll be tempting to but don’t lie or exaggerate. It’ll probably only take a shift or two to get enough info to show your boss that she is deliberately ignoring training to be on her phone. Don’t encourage her to try to pay attention just let her go off the rails. She’s an adult she shouldn’t need to be constantly reminded to do her job. Go over with your boss all the training you have offered her that she blatantly dismisses. Do this before she starts throwing you under the bus for not properly training her. Don’t make it about what she is talking about make it about how she isn’t doing her job. In fact keep it vague about what she is saying just that it’s unrelated to the job (unless she says something bigoted or other things that could get your boss in trouble). Your boss will be likely to dismiss any criticism you have to her politics as TDR and not listen. Be sure to really drive home all the training you’ve offered her that she is ignoring. Encourage him to ask what she has learned but only after you’ve made it damn clear you’re attempting to train her but she just isn’t having it. Be slightly verbose and flattering to the job as if it’s the most important procedures in the world. Make it so your description of your training is pretty much enough to train on it’s own to show what you’re shown her.
So your writing should look something like this (IDK know your job so I’ll just act like it’s when I trained people)
04/06/2025 3:34pm: Showed Karen how we level a TV. Showed her how to place the level on the TV and to look for the bubble being in the middle to see if it’s level. I instructed that if the TV is not level to slightly but forcefully shimmy the side then check again to see if it’s level. She barely looked up from her phone. When I asked to confirm if she got the information she dismissed it with a ‘Yeah yeah yeah’ then insisted on talking about something unrelated that she saw on her phone. She shut down any attempts to lead the conversation back to the training.
04/06/205 3:45pm Tried to train Karen on the best practice for looking for a stud. Showed her when we have an idea where we want the TV activate the stud finder and place it center of the wall where the TV will go. Move to the right until the detector tells your where the stud starts and where the stud ends. Mark those areas. Next with a metal poker poke the center of the stud to confirm one is there. If one is there move the poker slightly over and poke another hole. While poking try to get an idea if the poker is hitting metal or wood. If it’s wood the poker will slightly go in when forced but it won’t with metal. Do this until you confirm the two edges of the stud. If one isn’t there or if you hit metal move the detector slightly more to the right until you find a stud then proceed with the poker . After you’re done with the one on the right do the same procedure for the stud on the left. Once you known where the center of the two studs are double check that the plate will fit within the two stubs. Level the plate out and draw circles where the holes are going to be. When you drill be sure to drill into the center of the stud and tape a little plastic baggie to catch the dust. At no point did Karen look up from her phone. When I asked if she had any questions she sarcastically replied “So, you use a stud detector to find the stud? You must be a genius.” She interrupted all other attempts to clarify by bringing up what she was looking up on her phone.
If your boss asks what she brought on her phone clarify that isn’t your concern just that it is always wildly unrelated to work and that she isn’t doing her job. If he doubles down about the content clarify “I have no issue with her having a political opinion that’s different than mine. You have one and I still do my job well without it being a concern. We’re here to do our job not to convince each other on things unrelated to it.” If she brings up she’s a Christian (I just assume she does) never mention that.
You’re not going to convince her she’s blatantly wrong about Trump, Musk or even how she is using ChatGPT so give up on any desire to change her mind. It’s frustrating for sure but it’s even more so to engage. Generally kill her with kindness.
To a MAGAt, unless you frequently and loudly proclaim your devotion to Trump, you are the enemy. It is not enough that you try to be neutral. There is a post now taken down by Eric Trump….
The president’s son Eric Trump posted this. Chilling.
He deleted it – but here it is
https://bsky.app/profile/miafarrow.bsky.social/post/3lm462j6p2k2h
Basically he said they will “run down” anyone that gets in their way and does not support the “Golden Age.” He pledged to do “so much worse” than just the tariffs.
That is how fascists work.
You’re going to have to frame this in a way that will eventually impact your boss. Do not engage in any way with her. Do not ask questions. Do not challenge it directly. Your repeated response is “My job here is to train you for this task. The task is XYZ. Are you having trouble with the task?” Only engage on the task and begin documenting task performance. Every time she derails, mark the time and note how long it take to get her back on track. Frame it is her inability to focus on and perform the task in front of her. When you bring it to your boss, bring the example of 1 or 2 days. “Hey, there is a pattern with Sherry that is making it difficult to train her. She becomes distracted by her own thoughts on the world, gets on ChatGPT, and this how many times in a day it happens and how long it takes tohet her back on task. She seems to have trouble listening and comprehending instruction because she is distracted by these things and fails to focus on her job here. My concern is how it will affect my ability to train, her performance, and in turn you’ll be looking for another employee for this department again. It is also distracting and affecting my own performance. Can you tell me your plan for how to manage this as I am not her manager and don’t want to overstep my bounds but I feeling like I spend much of the day managing it?” Don’t say it then, but be prepared for that employee to be you some day and start looking for an exit plan. Be prepared for your boss to blow it off. Continue bringing it to him specifically focusing on the effects of performance only without regard to content.