To Understand Trump, You Must Understand His Cult

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To Understand Trump, You Must Understand His Cult

Dec 19, 2019
Opinion

As Americans watch the political drama of impeachment against President Donald Trump unfold in Congress, it seems clear that Democrats and Republicans seem to occupy entirely different planes of reality, speaking in opposite terms about the same issues. It is a reflection of the political polarization in the nation at large that social scientists have struggled to understand.

But there is a simple explanation: We are witnessing the development of a dangerous and massive cult. And Trump, the cult leader, knows exactly how to wield his power over his supporters in order to retain his position.

At a rally in Hersey, Pa., last week, multiple Trump supporters threatened violence if their leader was removed from power, with one man invoking his “.357 Magnum,” and another predicting a second civil war. One woman explained, “As a Trump supporter, I believe in him.” Do such statements not sound like those of cult members?

How else to explain the fact that Trump has convinced millions of Americans that he stands up for them even while his policies have disproportionately benefited wealthy corporations? How else to make sense of how he spews lies at a record-breaking pace while at the same time claiming he is the only one telling the truth?

The Cult Education Institute lists the warning signs of a “potentially unsafe group/leader,” and almost all of them are uncanny descriptions of President Trump.

Among the signs that dangerous cult leaders display is “absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.” Trump’s backers have made it clear they think he is above the law.

The most important law-enforcer in the nation, Attorney General William Barr, who is a leader in the cult of Trump, believes the president is above the law. Trump’s acting chief of staff has made it clear Trump can do what he likes because the rules don’t apply to him and that the rest of us should just “get over it.”

Trump has himself said, “I can do whatever I want.” And he made it clear he was aware of his status as a cult leader even before he was president when he said during his campaign that he could shoot someone in the middle of the street and still retain his supporters.

Another warning sign of being in a cult is that the leader displays “[n]o tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.” In a democracy, the news media in particular represents “critical inquiry.” Trump the cult leader has waged war on the press for the entirety of his presidential tenure, dismissing it as the “enemy of the people.”

His repeated claims that media outlets are “fake news” have worked, as the latest Pew Research Center report on Journalism and Media found that “on item after item, Republicans consistently express far greater skepticism of the news media and their motives than Democrats.”

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/to-understa...-his-cult/

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