Honestly, just tell her you’d rather not talk about politics. It can be incredibly passive. You do not need to elaborate. You can make up something simple like “I just want to focus on work while I’m at work,” it doesn’t even need to make sense. If she pushes back, drop it, but don’t ever say it’s okay for her to do. Then if she keeps doing it talk to your manager about it. “I’ve talked to her and asked her not to talk about politics, but she insists. I find it distracting.” Again, it doesn’t necessarily need to make sense and it doesn’t need to be over the top. Now,. hopefully your manager will sort it out. Because if it’s annoying you it’s likely annoying others.

Someone already mentioned going to HR or talking to your boss, but if you really want to shut it down just call her out on her bullshit. Make her explain her position and ask followup questions until she can’t respond. She’s just parroting some talking head, and you can even make a game out of trying to figure out which one she’s channeling

I’ve had to deal with a family member like that and managed to shock them into shutting up about it in my company. “If you are going to shove your politics into everyone’s faces you’ll have to listen to my opinions too. You know what I think about <insert their favorite politician>? I’d love to spend my weekend slowly drowning them in a barrel of cat piss, but I’m worried it’s too good for them.” 3 years later not a pip.

I don’t talk about politics or religion

The entirety of polite, modern society lives by this rule

How the actual fuck do Americans just not get it? 😂

Try to maintain a safe distance of at least 30 m at all times. If you’re stuck with her in the same room, ask lots of work related questions and keep the conversation strictly professional. Dry work stuff only. The more boring the better. As soon as the conversation is about to go off the rails, steer it back.

One option…lean in, HARD! Dial the crazy up to 11… One up every point she makes, every single time.

You have basic human social cues and a the minimal amount of empathy. So you won’t be able to ignore a person. As mush as people say it you can’t actually ignore people. The best you can do is minimize interactions.

Try to understand that people like this are desperate and crave interaction. They want someone to validate them. This can come by agreement or by argument. Either of those options will fuel them. People like this are unwell, though appear functional.

If you confront this person they will know they have a ‘live one’ and will NEVER EVER LET YOU GO. Do not engage unless you deliberately want to give them the interaction they are so desperate for.

Give non-responses, grunts, etc to them . Stuff like ‘huh, must have a lot of time on your hands’ ‘ok’ ‘huh’ Keep body language to a minimum. Like others have said this is for all topics. Even a small smile on a point of agreement is a small crumb of the interaction they are desperate for.

Headphones all the time.

Quit. You will know your workplace and know if they given any care at all about a professional environment. Most ‘HR’ departments or managers are simply not equipped to deal with a drama person who doesn’t cross the line to blatantly illegal. If you are in the unicorn place that cares and is willing to shut down a person like this speak to a manager or HR. If you don’t work in that place, time to move. This isn’t advice for everyone. You are bothered enough to want to engage with this person. It’s obviously on some level effecting you. Over more time it may not get better.

You don’t. You care about what you care about.

What you can do is a combination of stone face and meditation.

Stone face is never giving a reaction of any kind. They shoot off their mouth, you just look away, walk away, or stare blankly at them. Should they question it, you just state you’re going back to work (if leaving their presence), or “nothing” with nothing else added.

The meditation part is so that you don’t crack. You learn to control your breathing, which gives you the later ability to both exist in the now without dwelling on the events of the now, with the side benefit of being able to tune useless signals out.

Both take practice. And they kinda depend on each other. You do stone face without meditation, you end up just eating yourself up inside from the stress. You do meditation without stone face, you end up looking calm and happy, which encourages the behavior.

Now, it’s important to remember to do it when a person is voicing their silliness that you agree with, too. See, if you only go blank with one area of politics, or only that person’s religious vomit, you end up causing problems for yourself. So hold everyone to the same standard that politics and religion are just utterly useless to bring up around you.

Are there cases where someone is going to push? Sure. You fall back to stating that you’re hearing them out, but you have work to do. This does come with the consequence that you’re going to have to also stay distant with other conversation and stay on task at work, at least verbally. That can be a loss if the workplace is otherwise relaxed and less “work now scumdog slave!”, but it usually ends up being worth that.

Oh shit. Are we coworkers? Is it me?

Here’s a hot take: Take shrooms. You’ll understand to your core that literally nothing matters and society is just a game of house that went too far. There’s so much you can’t control, so your coworkers political beliefs will seem like a very funny and intricate delusion they hold themselves to.

Of course this might not be your experience, but sometimes things take too much bandwidth in our heads and we hyperfocus on it and then it affects our mental health and personality. A mental shakeup helps reframe everything and I’ve found that my anxiety over how the world is going greatly gets dealt with better in my head after a good trip.

Would it be good enough for you if you heard the conspiracy theories around you, but you could mostly not be affected by what they’re saying?

You grow up.

“Please don’t talk about politics in the workplace. It is unprofessional.”

Talk to your boss in private and say that political talk at the workplace makes you uncomfortable and you don’t think it’s appropriate.

I straight up called a coworker, in public, a brainless idiot for falling for right wing propaganda and then spent the next half hour mocking his views.

He never spoke about them again.