Seeing A Cult, Knowing A Cult

THE IDEA that the political supporters of Donald Trump, who number in the tens of millions, comprise a "cult", never occured to me until relatively recently. Certainly not during his presidency. During his presidency, what fascinated me primarily was the frequency, outlandish transparency, and sheer numbers of his lies told from the White House, on a daily basis. The number turns out to have been between twenty and twenty five outright lies, per day, per president. They were widely reported nd documnted in the media, and I continued to be surprised at the apparent lack of concern on the part of his supporters. Did they believe his lies, or merely overlok them? Were his policies so desirable from their point of view that they were willing to accept Trump's constant lying and vicious slandering of his opponents, without so much as a moral qualm? So it seemed, and still seems. It may be that the idea of a Trump cult began to take shape in my brain when Trump's behavior caused incident after incident which caused me to declare his political career dead, instead increase the ensthusiaism with which Trump's supporters embraced him as their leader. First came the Access Hollywood recording a month before his election in 2016. I thought his candidacy was over. So did the Republican National Committee. However, not so. Then came one revelation after another, all damagaing to Trump. He knowingly, willingly welcomed and received assistance from Russian activists during the 2016 campaign, as later confirmed by the Russians themselves. Trump went merrily on, his supporters scoffed at the confirmed report. Then came his famous telephone conversation with the president of Ukraine, in whih president Trump tried to blackmail Zelensky for damaging information on Joe Biden. He was impeached for that, but again, his popularity with his support base only increased. The second impeachment, one week before leaving office, centered around Trump's failed attempt to steal the presidency from Bidn and to retain it by first lying about the election results,and then by organizing a violent mob to overthrow Biden's government, had, amazingly, much the same effect. By the time Trump finally left office ammid the carnage he left, if memory serves,I was entirely amenable to describing the Trump phenomenon as a "cult". My belief in this regard has, over the last few years, only intensified. I now firmly, unreservedly conisder Donald Trump a cult leader, and his remaining millions of sycophants his cult. His recent MAGA rallies provide perhaps the clearest evidence yet of this. In the video presentations which often preceed his speeches, Trump's ideas and leadership, indeed his every word, are presented with an apostolic fervor, almost in a religious sense. Trump the savior of America. He made America great again merely by being elected, America lost its greatness the very mmoment he,kicking and screaing, left office,and America will only, can only, become great yet again if the great man is returned to power. More than ever,a messianic attitude about Trump again becoming president consumes his following. When he speaks, his mainly evangelical Chritian audience raises both their hands above their heads, as if receiving the words of a divine being, sent by God. They calim to worship God and love Jesus. In reality, they both love and worship Donald J.Trump, as false a prophet as ever walked the planet.