Carrie Coon says it’s hard to talk to Trump supporters ‘because there’s no basis in fact’

It’s either art imitating life, or life imitating art, but Carrie Coon feels the same about Trump supporters as her White Lotus character Laurie does.

When Coon stopped by The View on Friday, she opened up about how she finds it difficult to talk to people who still support President Donald Trump because she feels there is no logic or fact behind their views.

“I had family members who voted for Trump — I’m from Ohio, we had to have those conversations,” Coon revealed before adding, “Not my immediate family.”

The Gilded Age star explained that she thinks it’s possible to be friends with Trump supporters, because she already is. But when it comes to discussing current events and social issues with them, that’s where it becomes impossible.

“I think there was a time when it was possible to have conversations about it, but when you’re in an authoritarian slide, it becomes a closed system,” Coon said. “The leader is the source of information, that is not penetrable. So when you’re inside of that circular information system, then it’s very hard. It’s very hard to talk about anything, because there’s no basis in fact. And now we’re seeing the defunding of the NIH and the NSF, so, like, science, which I believe in science. There’s no middle ground there.”

When asked if she thinks Trump supporters will rebel against him if they become personally affected by his policies, Coon didn’t seem optimistic.

“I think narrative is very powerful,” she said. “And it’s very easy to teach them that they should blame immigrants or trans people while billionaires are picking their pockets.”

During The White Lotus season 3, Coon’s character Laurie raised similar concerns during an awkward dinner with her childhood friends Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and Kate (Leslie Bibb) while on vacation. During episode 3, “The Meaning of Dreams,” Laurie and Jaclyn were shocked to discover that Kate had become a Republican and voted for Trump — a scene that was written and shot long before Trump’s re-election.

“I feel like Mike had binoculars into the future because when we did it, it just didn’t feel [timely anymore],” Bibb previously told Entertainment Weekly. “I was like, ‘We already did that. That was in the past.’ I don’t even think Trump was running when we did it — it was in January or February of last year or something, so yeah, that was pretty wild. But he’s like a little soothsayer, that Mike White. It feels like we’ve hit a nerve. We’re in the zeitgeist, as they say. We’ve done something current, if you will.”

The actors didn’t spend a lot of time discussing the dinner scene, particularly the references to Trump, with each other during filming. Especially since, at the time, it didn’t feel as relevant as it does now. “We didn’t really talk about it,” Coon previously told EW. “Mike’s stuff is always on the page… What I love about Mike is that what he’s doing is really Greek and really transgressive. And then he has this super relatable story about these women that I think everybody can understand — they’ve all had relationships that have changed as they got older, that didn’t last, or had to get reshaped. And I think what you feel happens to these women at the end says more about you than it does about whatever we’re doing in there.”

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The toxic BFF trio’s Trump conversation was filled with a minefield of off-limits topics. While discussing Kate’s increased interest in religion during dinner, Jaclyn and Laurie asked her if she felt weird going to church surrounded by so many Texans who voted for Trump. Kate simply responded, “They’re nice people. Really good families.” Then Laurie asked if it was awkward when she talked politics with them. When Kate answered, “Why would it?” alarm bells went off for her lifelong friends. “Wait, are you… a Republican?” a shocked Laurie asked. “You didn’t vote for Trump, though, did you?”

Kate’s sinister, silent cringe-smile was all the answer they needed. “Are we really going to talk about Trump tonight?” she asked after a long pause. They all quickly changed the subject with more tense, fake smiles, and later that night, Kate saw Jaclyn and Laurie laughing and talking without her, and about her. It was a direct callback to Jaclyn and Kate gossiping late into the night about Laurie in an earlier episode, only now, the roles were reversed. The trio ultimately ended the season reaffirming their friendship despite all their differences and fighting.