Well, that's the question. I think in many cases the answer is no. On a lot of the things that Trump has done, the really big ones, the chance to engage them on those has passed. Mainly, they have been submerged in a totally different story about what Trump did on January 6th, what he did with the classified documents he took, what he did trying to intimidate states to change the voting to defraud the public into thinking he won. His sexual assault of Ms. Carroll, his tax fraud, his attempt to cover-up his sexual escapades to influence the 2016 election, his fake university that he used to scam money from people, his fake Trump foundation that he pretended was for charity but used to enrich himself...it goes on and on.
The problem with all of those, and many other facts about Trump, is his acolytes have accepted his ridiculous stories about what happened. That everything is a big conspiracy to get Trump, and so, all our attempts to talk to them about those things are easily dismissed by them. They will treat us as if we have fallen for these Biden/Democrat/Deep State schemes or we are part of them. They walk away from us thinking we are the fools. So, on those topics, basically, I think it is not worth engaging.
So, I don't have any real rules of engagement, but you can try these.
1. Begin by asking questions. Again, not about the topics above but general questions that get them talking about what they think and so they can tell you what they feel and believe. Don't start with declarative statements because those they shut themselves off to quickly. I think you have to feel your way into the conversation.
2. Listen and formulate your follow-up questions based on what you are hearing. It is a way to try to drill down into the areas they feel are important and for you to figure out how to steer the conversation into a place where you might be able to have an exchange of ideas. This approach of asking questions is much friendlier to them than telling them something. If you ask follow-up questions based on what they said it promotes the idea you are listening and you are interested.
3. No matter what they say, don't be enticed into just telling them a truth or fact early in the conversation and if you do want to introduce one, introduce it as a question. Again, the key is to express your curiosity and willingness to hear them out.
4. As much as you are tempted to do so, don't ask them for facts. The reason for this is simple, they are not going to have any, if they have anything they think is a fact they will offer it on their own, and asking for facts is a sure way to ending the conversation. Let them state what they think is a fact, and just probe with your follow-up questions.
5. Remain calm, don't express anger, try to project interest and curiosity. Don't show frustration or annoyance. Nod a lot like you understand them, even if you don't.
6. Set your goals for the conversation at hoping you can learn something, and hopefully best case, leave them with something they consider.
Basically, in these conversations you do have to first gauge the level of crazy. As Dan did in his encounter with the guy that said Biden was dead. When you get a dead giveaway (see what I did there) like that, best to just walk away. You can ask questions to try to guide them out of that fog but chances are they like it in that fog so won't see you doing so as a good thing.
I look for two things really when I do it, to throw something at them that short circuits their thought process, basically that dead ends something they believe, and to hopefully leave them thinking about something. I don't look for a win or a convert. The best method is to let them come to the conclusion, not you hand it to them.
If you don't have the patience for this, probably don't engage, unless you are looking for an excuse to say to someone "Listen, fucknut, you are totally out of your tits!"
That will cause the people in Panera to all look at you.
