A former Trump fan explained why he stopped supporting him, and people are praising him for his 'self-awareness' and 'humility'

Authored by insider.com and submitted by NuSurfer
image for A former Trump fan explained why he stopped supporting him, and people are praising him for his 'self-awareness' and 'humility'

Danny Collins, a former Trump fan, shared why he stopped supporting him.

He said being a Trump supporter made him realize "how horrible of a person" he was.

He said he used to agree with Trump's words, then realized they reflected the "worst" of himself.

Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

A former Trump fan has gone viral after explaining why he stopped supporting the former president in a TikTok.

Danny Collins said he used to agree with Trump's words, then realized they reflected the "worst" of himself.

Collins responded to another creator who was asking Trump's critics why they "hate him so much."

"It's simple for me," Collins said in his video, which has been viewed over a million times. "Because he made me realize how horrible of a person I really was."

Advertisement Advertisement Watch: VIDEO: Trump voters explain why they want him back

Collins said he "drank the juice" and "joined the cult."

"I was on the Trump train, baby," he said.

Collins said when Trump would speak about building a wall around Mexico and keeping immigrants out of the US and that Muslim people were a threat to the US, he agreed.

"All of those internalized beliefs, the worst of me that I used to keep suppressed, he brought to the surface," he said. "He showed me how much of a racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, woman-hating, Christian white nationalist I truly was."

He said he felt Trump's slogan, Make America Great Again, with "every fiber" of his being.

"And he made me believe as a white, straight Christian male, that I was under attack, that I was being discriminated against in America today," he said.

Collins said he was an inmate in the Florida Department of Corrections for 10 years and was never tempted to join a gang until he was convinced that "the white man was under attack."

In 2021, he was an inmate at the New River Correctional Institution and was "cheering" on the crowd during the January 6 US Capitol attack while in the TV room. He said at that time, he believed people were taking their country back.

Collins said he was released in June 2021 and had "every intention of telling the world how great Trump is."

"You know what I hate most about Donald Trump? Is that I actually believed the lie," Collins said. "I believed that he actually cared about me, the poor, common folk. I hate that he brought out the worst in me and everybody else that I was closely associated with."

Collins started to change his perspective thanks to a friend he made in prison, who was a Black Muslim man. He realized that everything he identified in Trump was reflected in something in himself.

"He didn't make me be a bad person — he just emboldened me to be the person I already was," he said. "Donald Trump appeals to the worst of America. In 2024, we need to bring out the best of America."

Collins' video hit a nerve with thousands of people, who thanked him for his "self-awareness" and "humility."

"Sir, this level of self awareness, personal growth and humility is something most people never achieve," one person wrote. "Much respect. Thank you for making this video."

Another said the video was "the single most inspiring thing I've seen all year."

"We can all do better," they said. "Bless you for your journey."

purplish_possum on September 9th, 2023 at 12:38 UTC »

Sadly most MAGA types don't want to be better people. They want someone to tell them it's OK to be the deplorable people they are. Trump does that in spades.

Trump is popular because he hates all the same people his supporters hate. Trump didn't create the hate. Trump just made it acceptable to express.

IrritablePanda on September 9th, 2023 at 12:20 UTC »

If you watch the full TikTok, the best thing he says was something like (totally paraphrased) “watch how disposable all the people around him are, how can you believe he gives a shit about you or the American people?”

This to me is the most insane part of maga. These people support a person who has literally sold out everyone he’s ever been allied with for his own personal gain and no one else’s

MrLurid on September 9th, 2023 at 12:15 UTC »

"He wasn't a true Trump Supporter!"