Overview
- On Fox News' The Five this week, Greg Gutfeld returned to the claim that liberals refuse friendships with Trump backers, following a viral exchange where Jessica Tarlov called Trump a completely morally bankrupt person.
- Jesse Watters framed the discussion with the term Trump Derangement Syndrome, a pejorative label not recognized in medicine, and cited unspecified new research about relationships ending over politics.
- HuffPost identified the research as a PNAS Nexus study of 1,000 Americans from April 2025 finding 37% ended a relationship over politics, mostly friendships and often initiated by Democrats.
- Gutfeld argued it is illogical to treat long-time friends as fascists for supporting Trump and used a “dad loves Trump” example to question moral labels placed on supporters.
- Coverage split along partisan lines, with Townhall praising Gutfeld’s critique and outlets like Alternet and Crooks and Liars condemning it as excusing harmful behavior, as the moment circulated in viral clips and commentary.