Since protests against President #Trump and his policies began, a common narrative has circulated among his supporters on social media: they are the "silent majority." As Donald Trump himself tweeted a call for his supporters to rally, this theme was given new life. The problem is, the facts indicate otherwise, and it's time for #MAGA supporters to accept that -- for better or worse.

The final numbers in the general election have long since been in, and the fact is that Hillary Clinton did indeed receive just under three million more votes than Donald Trump.

On that basis alone, Trump supporters can no longer claim to be the majority. In fact, if we look at the greater perspective of United States citizens over 18 (according to the US Census Bureau) those who voted for President Trump account for just over 25%. A report by Huffington Post shows that rallies carried out in response to Trump's call for MAGA supporters to hold rallies of their own brought far less than the "biggest of them all" in terms of participation. While rallies in Detroit and Atlanta did draw in a few hundred people each, this falls far short of the protests well into the thousands which opposed his policies that we have seen in the same cities.

Time to face reality

While Trump's supporters may continue to claim to be the "silent majority" or may claim that they are no less the majority than those who voted for past presidents, the fact is there is a simple reason rallies in opposition will continue to be far larger, even if Trump manages to organize a considerably larger rally in a more favorable city.

Those who oppose Trump and/or his policies are not just Clinton voters. They are Clinton voters, Bernie Sanders voters, Libertarian voters, Green Party voters and basically any other empathetic adult in America. The rallies against Trump and his policies are based on collective rights and empathetic ideas: women's rights, LGBT rights, immigration rights.

It is time for MAGA supporters to face these facts and take notes from differing opinions.

You don't need to agree with every protest, but rather to realize that just as the many protesters are not always right, neither are you. We as humans all have a limited and subjective viewpoint, we all have different needs and different desires.

We don't need to all agree on every issue, but we do need to all be critical of our leaders in certain cases. If you support Trump and his policies, now is the time to stop focusing on the gossip and start focusing on what his policies actually do. In some cases, Trump has held to his promises, such as his executive order which put an end to the dreaded TPP. Many of his supporters also feel very optimistic about his promises to build the border wall along the US-Mexico border. However, there is also much truth to the many allegations that he has used his power to personally benefit.

Broken promises and conflicts of interest

Since President Trump refuses to release his tax returns, there remains no proof he has divested from the Energy Transfer Partners.

Energy Transfer Partners is responsible for the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, a pipeline which Trump has bypassed federal law requiring an Environmental Impact Study to see completed. He has also doubled the yearly membership fee of his Mar-A-Lago club to $200,000, a club which he has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to vacation at nearly every weekend of his presidency.

The President also appears to be reconsidering his promise to leave marijuana laws up to the states, as members of his cabinet issue statements alluding to the fact that recreational marijuana remains illegal under federal law. While these issues might not affect you directly, and you may even agree with Trump's stance on them, the fact is these issues were a large part of his campaign which he appears to have since reversed his stance on. This shows he will use his power for personal gain, something which even his supporters should be critical of.
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