‘White Lotus’ Scene Goes Viral For Hilariously Accurate Portrayal Of Coastal Elites Learning Their Friend Voted For Donald Trump

White Lotus is back, and admittedly, I haven’t had a chance to catch up on Season 3 yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2 seasons.

If you’re not familiar, The White Lotus is an HBO dark comedy-drama anthology series created by Mike White. The show take a satirical look at topics like privilege, wealth, and the hidden tensions, and shortcomings among the various affluent guests at luxurious White Lotus resort locations. Each season follows a new group of guests and hotel staff as their seemingly idyllic vacation destinations, but of course, these seemingly charmed lives immediately start to unravel due to dark secrets, personal conflicts, and unexpected tragedies.

Season 1 takes place in Hawaii, Season 2 takes place in Sicily, and the new season, which premiered on February 16th on HBO, is set in Thailand.

As much as I like the show, I can’t really nail down why I do, or why it has become so popular. Perhaps it is because people love watching rich people suffer, perhaps it’s because unique in the sense that there is never really any character you find yourself rooting for, perhaps it’s just something as simple as good writing and good acting, exotic sets… I think it’s the kind of show that A LOT of people will like, but nobody will ever call it their favorite.

And like I said, I haven’t started it yet, but one scene in particular is already gathering a viral response because it is just so on the nose for the current political climate we live in. And just to set the scene quickly, we have 3 longtime friends, who live in different parts of the country, reuniting for a girls trip. Leslie Bibb plays “Kate,” a country club wife from Austin, Texas. Carrie Coon plays “Laurie” a corporate lawyer and recent divorcée from New York, and Michelle Monaghan plays “Jaclyn”, a successful television actress based in Hollywood. The three are at dinner and they start talking politics and religion, and let’s just say the two “Coastal Elites” are utterly astounded that their Texas friend could be a Conservative Christian who voted for Trump.

They had no idea, never even entertained the possibility of the idea that someone could vote for him… it feels like an SNL skit.

Check it out:

LA and NYC residents are shocked their friend in Texas goes to church and voted Trump. Watch this scene from White Lotus on Sunday. Texas character isn’t played for cheap laughs. The vibe shift is real: pic.twitter.com/K3q9zdlNZC

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 4, 2025

Wow… where to begin.

First of all, I’ll comment very quickly on the Christianity part of the conversation, since “it’s for the boys” is a rather absurd but I suppose fairly common perspective on religion from someone who has no idea what they’re talking about. But nevertheless, my actual criticism is of Kate in this situation. Granted, it seems like these old friends haven’t seen each other in a while, and probably don’t talk much, so maybe there is some grace there, but if your friends do not know that you are a Christian, you’re doing it wrong. Plain and simple. Maybe you’re new to it and that’s fine, but true, life-giving, Gospel-centered Christianity is not something where you can just sit on the sidelines. I urge anyone and everyone to consider the fullness of life that is waiting for them in community, evangelism and discipleship. We’re invited in to participate in what God is doing to radically transform the world… be a part of it. Rant over… back to the actual story here.

Of course, the Trump discourse is the main reason the clip is garnering viral attention and it’s simply because it’s wildly accurate. The way they selfishly “feel sorry” for her that she has to live among conservatives Texas, like she’s in some kind of oppressive prison camp against her will… it’s just hilarious because it’s so true. People absolutely act like this all the time.

In fact, I’ve HAD this conversation before… in a number of different ways. Quick backstory on me… lived in Chicago for 16 years (recently moved to Wisconsin), went to DePaul, a very diverse, VERY Liberal (and yet somehow Catholic) university in Chicago, and I’ll tell you what… for such a diverse place, everyone generally assumes you think exactly like them. They don’t even imagine a world where someone thinks different than them. It’s prevalent in Chicago, and I know lots of people in New York, it’s even more of a bubble there.

“Wait, you’re not vaccinated? Oh… I mean… Uhh…. yeah, wow… Ok…uhhh”

Awkward…

But you can see just the alarming look on their face like your choice to not get a COVID vaccine is suffocating them. And here’s one that I’ll never forget… I’ve literally received emails from music industry bozos that have started off “hope you’re hanging in there after the election, yada yada yada…” Hanging in there? You just assumed that I think exactly like you do in Manhattan, and I’m currently stewing in my despair over the election results, and you thought you’d start a professional email that way, to someone you barely know? It’s asinine. People will openly talk sh*t about Republicans to your face without ever considering that you may have voted that way. They assume you love abortion, support Ukraine and open borders, hate guns… pick your issue. And then they’re just absolutely stunned when they find out you own a gun. It’s awkward and hilarious.

And at the same time, they don’t realize that this is why Kamala Harris and the democratic party lost this last time around, and probably the first time Trump won too.. because, and I’m admittedly generalizing here, you can’t for half a second open up your mind and understand that anyone could possible think differently than you, or have a different life experience than you, have different beliefs than you… and then once you get over the shock, you condemn them for it. And this is always coming from the party of tolerance? HA! Like imagine losing childhood friends or family members over this kind of thing… it sadly happens all the time. And the scene paints that picture beautifully, albeit tragically. And it’s magnified even further later in the episode as they continue to talk about it behind Kate’s back.

The real kicker is that I watch this scene and I see these two women utterly flabbergasted that their friend could vote for Donald Trump, and I feel sorry for them and their narrow-minded, self-absorbed thinking, while some are going to watch this and join them in their hatred for Kate. Case in point… this article from Glamour titled “I Can’t Stop Thinking About That Way-Too-Accurate White Lotus Trump Scene,” where the author of the article chastises Kate for wanting to change the subject, and condemns white women in particular for voting that way.

She writes:

“Many white women who voted for the president are cruel in their carelessness, unable to face the fact that they chose a candidate to run the country who has been convicted of sexual assault and convinced that this fact shouldn’t matter in their personal relationships. But it does. Realizing that a friend, especially one with whom you have a rich shared history, has voted for a candidate that took away our reproductive rights and has vowed to cause further harm to marginalized groups can feel like an insurmountable challenge, and that realization can feel like a punch in the gut.

For most of us, our loved ones aren’t out storming the Capitol. They are quietly buying into a set of viewpoints and facts that run completely counter to our deep-held beliefs, but refusing to acknowledge it in their personal lives. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a rich celebrity on the beach in Thailand or a normal gal at brunch, the feeling of betrayal has now become universal. Unfortunately, we’ve all been there.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Cruel? Betrayal? Counter to our deep-held beliefs? What are those deep-held beliefs? Clearly, we don’t agree on those and that’s the problem in the United States right now. She completely missed the point of this scene, didn’t she? What’s sad is that people like this Glamour author will call anyone who thinks differently than them cruel, and say they’ve been betrayed, but she doesn’t actually value people for being… people. People don’t have souls to her. They are disposable vehicles to serve her purposes and her ideals so she can virtue signal and stand on the mountain of morality, the final arbiter of good and evil. But does she and people like her actually care about people, individuals… their friends or family members, even the strangers, the immigrants and marginalized they claim to advocate for. Nah… not at all.

And to echo what Outkick’s Clay Travis said in the original tweet, talk about a vibe shift, right? Hey, maybe we’re actually moving towards tolerance…

Check out the reactions:

This scene felt so realistic it was terrifying. What a great season it’s been so far!

— Sam Mandal (@smandal718) March 4, 2025

The vibe shift is so real. People in LA and NYC don’t get the rest of America.

— Andy froemel (@FroemelAndy) March 4, 2025

I have literally avoided this conversation with so many friends because it would play out exactly this way.

— policy over party (@policy0party) March 4, 2025

Kinda sad

— Jeff Bates (@jeffbatesonx) March 4, 2025

Imagine being shocked and disappointed in a friend that goes to church??

— GOAT Capital Sports (@GOATcapital_) March 4, 2025

They absolutely nailed it with this, and the scene where they are STILL obsessing over it after she goes to bed.

— Evan (@MyOwnMartyr) March 4, 2025

I couldn’t agree more. Mike White has always done really well with this in White Lotus really exploring the judgemental nature of the wealthy and tackling it from both political sides in such a funny way. He just felt no fear hitting it on the nose here. Love that for us

— Jennifer Zilla (@jennifer_zilla) March 4, 2025

I lived in NYC and was born in Cali. I know these woman. I used to get the same reaction at dinner parties in NYC when they found out I had owned guns. LMAO

— Titus Pullo (@Titus_PulloBC) March 4, 2025

This has literally happened to me. No joke.

— Melinda (@DefViper) March 4, 2025

This scene hits hard cause it’s so realistic. How many of us have experienced this exact same scenario in real life? A lot!!!

— Nova Taylor (@NovaTaylor1984) March 4, 2025

Sadly this is so real, these people are so arrogant and assume their version of reality is morally superior

— FlamePhilosopher (@flamephilosophy) March 4, 2025