Donald Trump and Elon Musk seem impossible to avoid, and Brits are fed up of even hearing the names of the US President and his freak sidekick mentioned in conversation
Donald Trump and his side-kick Elon Musk are among the biggest conversation stoppers since the start of the year.
A poll of 2,000 Brits found that the very mention of the 78-year-old American president left Brits ‘cold’. Those polled said Tesla and X boss Elon Musk wasn’t far behind in the biggest ‘no-nos’ when it came to casual chat. The study by smart money app Plum found that the only topic more likely to leave us running for the hills was having a natter about our personal finances, our debt levels in particular.
Trevor Spennymoor, 55, of Tenby, Wales, said if anyone tried talking to him about Donald Trump, he simply walked off. He said: “I cannot bear anyone who starts talking about Trump. I hear enough about him on the TV and the radio, so I don’t need to hear about him in my day-to-day life.”
He added: ‘I’d rather talk about my credit card bill than Trump, or Musk for that matter.”
A spokesman for Plum said: “What do Trump, Botox and your salary have in common? They’re all amongst the top 10 topics of conversation people most avoid, as voted for by the British public.”
Among the top reasons for avoiding speaking about any on the top 10 were that it would ‘cause an argument to kick off’, or that they fear they would be judged.
It wasn’t just US politics that shut up conversations. Brexit was another massive conversation turn off, with 10 percent of the UK apparently unable to hear another second on our departure from the European Union.
And while our politicians are happy to carp on about them until the cows come home, swathes of the public also reckon other political topics such as migration and assisted dying can be real conversation enders.
Perhaps surprisingly, there were topics even more unbearable than politics. Personal debt led the way, with Brits even less keen to talk about owing money than they were mention Donald and his irritating sidekick. Bosses at Plum said that people should speak more openly about their money, saying that around £300bn is lying dormant in non-interest bearing accounts.
They reckon that Brits are missing out on around £15bn in interest every year.
The full list:
1 – Personal debt – 14%
2 – Donald Trump – 13%
3 – Your salary – 13%
4 – Personal savings – 12%
5 – Elon Musk – 11%
6 – Your credit rating – 11%
7 – Effects of Brexit – 10%
8 – Assisted dying – 10%
9 – Migration & small boats – 9%
10 – Botox and cosmetic surgery – 8%