To Understand Trump, You Must Understand His Cult

[BeckyDem]

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-understand-trump-you-must-understand-his-cult/

[dewsgirl]

1. They are the type of people this crap👇 works on, if a campaign

sent me this, it would piss me right the F off. They would lose me in that moment.

Link to tweet

?s=19

[Cary]

2. They are authoritarians

See "The Authoritarian Dynamic," Karen Stenner.

[LastDemocratInSC]

6. You are correct. I see it in members of my family (my siblings). It's a disturbing thing.

[Cary]

9. It is disturbing

It is also dangerous. The lesson of 2016 is to put aside petty squabbles to defeat evil. We seem to be doing a little better, so far, but I wish I had more confidence in more of my allies.

[LastDemocratInSC]

10. I should have said "my sibling", singular not plural.

Of the 4 children in my family of origin 3 are Democrats. One of my brothers, and his spouse, and their children, are hard-core ditto heads and Fox worshippers. They are always encouraging the rest of us to "get smarter" and join them in that ecosystem. After almost 3 decades of these discussions don't you think they would realize we're not going to join them?

I think that the big difference is the "rest of us" are not concerned about being accepted in the culture here. We are "in this place" but not "of this place". By fortunate circumstances our incomes are not dependent on the area. In my case, I work for a Canadian consulting company, which is a quite liberal organization.

My ditto head brother, however, is fully dependent on his income being local. He's a great guy, really, a fine brother in every way, but he is fully invested in the local right wing narratives. And, he's doing it because that's reality to him and his family.

It's a strange thing.

[Cary]

11. That book is my best explanation

Authoritarian theory is not a perfect answer and I am not claiming that my opinion carries any weight whatsoever. I do claim to understand how you feel. I hear you.

[RAB910]

3. They are absolutely a cult and I am mindful to always refer to them as such

This isn't your usual political movement. When their criminal cult leader is literally incapable of saying or doing anything that would cause him to lose support from his followers, you have a cult.

[Aristus]

4. The cult behavior worth waiting for:

To see if the cult members kill themselves en masse in a paroxysm of sorrow when Dear Leader dies.

[cutroot]

5. They did the same thing with bush and reagan

After all, these are the people that thought palin was a good choice

[overleft]

7. I live amongst the evangelical gun nuts....and....

The only issues they consider voting on are abortion and guns. They would let the facist corporate rulers starve them before even looking at any other issues.

[Lonestarblue]

8. Salon has an interesting article about Republicans and Trump supporters.

The writer’s observation is that rather than being fearful of Trump, Congressional Republicans are embracing him because he is helping them accomplish their goals of rule by a wealthy elite and permanent ability to effectively disenfranchise Democratic voters by keeping the party in the minority. From https://www.salon.com/2019/12/17/are-republicans-afraid-of-trump-hell-no-hes-destroying-democracy-and-they-love-it/

“Whatever word you want to use for it — fascism, authoritarianism, pick your poison — the grim reality is that Republicans, both politicians and voters, appear to be all in on this project. It's painful to admit this, but Republicans have flat-out rejected democracy. As a group, they are pushing towards replacing democracy with a system where a powerful minority holds disproportionate and borderline tyrannical control over government and blocks the majority of Americans from having meaningful say over the direction of the country.

Republicans are not cowering in fear of Trump. On the contrary, they are exalting in his shamelessness. Watching Republicans at impeachment hearings, where they performed outrage for the cameras, lied with obvious glee and gloried in sharing conspiracy theories, it did not appear that they were intimidated by their president or anyone else.

No, Republicans clearly feel empowered by Trump. He frees them to reveal their darkest desire — which is to end democracy as we know it, and to cut any corners or break any laws necessary to get the job done.”

[Skittles]

12. I am sick of being told I need to understand those stupid fuckers

FUCK THEM ALL