You know, Trump’s most fervent supporters … are not open to reason or not open to arguments. CBS News just put out a poll that suggests that Trump’s voters value him as a source of truth by eight points more than they value their friends and family and by thirty points more than they value religious leaders.
Jim Himes (D-Connecticut), August 21, 2023
So, I mean, these are people who, and I sort of hate to use the bombastic language, but these are people who have joined a cult.
I know the title of this post is provocative. Let’s examine the case logically. When I say that the Republican Party is a cult, am I just tossing out a negative label, or do the characteristics of the current Republican Party actually meet the definition of a cult?
The word “cult,” of course, initially referred to fringe religious groups. But since we are discussing a political group, let’s use a more current, more general, definition of the word “cult.”
A cult is a group which is typically led by a charismatic and self-appointed leader, who tightly controls its members, requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered deviant.
Wikipedia
Does the current Republican Party in the United States meet this definition of a cult?
A charismatic leader
Is Donald J. Trump “charismatic?” Well, not to me. I find him to be both boorish and boring. I hate to listen to him talk because he cannot string together coherent, meaningful, sentences. I used to listen carefully and try to sort through his word salads in an attempt to figure out the actual message he was trying to communicate. I soon realized that he has no message. He stands for nothing. His speeches consist of nothing but ego, bluster, random thoughts, and bullying.
But to Republicans, he seems to have some sort of charismatic glow. They flock to his rallies, post his signs, and proudly wear his apparel. They chant for him, march for him, threaten people for him, break windows for him, and beat up cops for him. That level of loyalty indicates that he has a strong, charismatic, appeal to some people.
A self-appointed leader
That Trump is “self-appointed” is clear from his initial choice to run for President in 2015. He was definitely NOT “recruited” to run by the mainstream Republican leaders of the time. But, an even stronger indicator of his “self-appointment” is his failure to disappear from the political landscape after his loss in 2020.
There were a few brief weeks when many elected Republicans breathed a sigh of relief at Trump’s loss and were glad to be rid of him. But Trump himself refused to go away. His ego was too fragile to admit he had lost. He invented the “Big Lie” and set about convincing Republicans that only he was their political salvation.
Tightly controlled membership
The Republican Party has long had a vicious response to any of its members who tried to be moderate and, heaven forbid, may have actually wanted to discuss policy issues with the Democrats. They would label their own members as “RINOs” (Republican In Name Only) and ostracize them until they could be defeated by a more rabidly “conservative” Republican in the next primary election.
Under the Trump cult, the pressure for Republicans to conform has gotten much greater. Acceptance of the Big Lie and a willingness to kiss Trump’s ring are now a nationwide litmus test to becoming a Republican candidate for any office.
Trumpists pushed out Liz Cheney in Wyoming, Mitt Romney in Utah, and many at the state level – including former Republican Speaker of the House, Rusty Bowers, in Arizona.
Like any cult, unwavering loyalty to the leader is an absolute requirement for membership in the modern Republican Party.
Unwavering devotion to deviant beliefs
- The Big Lie – The most ridiculous and outrageous belief in the Republican Party is that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election and that it was “stolen” from him.
- Disinformation – The Republican Party used to depend on right-wing radio and FauxNews to spread their lies. Now elected Republicans, including everyone from the wacky Marjorie Taylor Greene to the self-righteous Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, regularly spread lies and misinformation as a matter of daily business.
- Preference for fringe media – After decades of Republican attacks on the mainstream media as being “fake news,” most Republicans now prefer to get their news exclusively from fringe media – where the news really IS fake.
- Trump worship – It is bad enough that Trump supporters choose to wear the red “mark of the beast” on their foreheads (a “Magus” is a sorcerer), but they continue to publish disgusting internet memes portraying Trump as a Christ-like figure.
- Demonizing opponents – Rather than the former practice of referring to the other party as “the loyal opposition,” the Republicans now regularly demonize the Democrats as being everything from “Communists” to “pedophiles.” Their “lesser educated” MAGA base often considers these inaccurate and offensive labels as being literally true.
- Misogyny – So-called “conservatives” have long been identifiable by how they (mis-)treat women. They carry in their head an imaginary image of the “ideal family” in which the “obedient” wife stays home and tends exclusively to the cooking, cleaning, and children. All major decisions are to be made by the husband. Birth control is not allowed, and abortion (even for legitimate medical reasons) should be punished.
Unwavering devotion to deviant practices
- Bullying – Trump is a bully, and his example has given bullies all around the country “permission” to behave the same way.
- Threats – Trump threatens his perceived enemies in vague language that offers him plausible deniability. But his followers receive his message and follow up by sending insults and death threats to judges, prosecutors, legislators, election workers, and anyone else Trump points to.
- Violence – Trump planned and incited the Capitol mob on January 6th, 2021. His supporters regularly promise that they are armed and ready for more violence.
- Guns – Trump supporters are way over the top when it comes to gun possession and brandishing them in public. I would even use the word “paranoid.” The guns they tend to prefer have no value in legitimate hunting activities.
- Voter suppression – Republican state legislators across the country keep promoting laws that are designed to make it harder for people to vote. This is blatantly un-American.
- Book censorship – In the last decade, attacks on books, libraries, and librarians have dramatically increased. Throughout history, the book burners have never been the good guys.
- Denial of history – Republican legislators around the country have been taking an increasingly active role in controlling what teachers can teach. They are especially hostile to Black American history and any program or curriculum that deals with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This is literally a “whitewashing” of American history.
- Persecution of minorities – Housing discrimination, loan discrimination, job discrimination, voter suppression, racial profiling, stop and search, false arrest, excessive use of force – all of these illegal and unconstitutional behaviors are on the increase – especially in Republican-dominated areas of the country.
- Walking away from our international obligations – During Trump’s Presidency, he took the United States out of the Paris climate agreement and threatened to leave NATO. His Republican Congressional allies have continued to fight climate protections and have opposed and delayed aid to Ukraine. If re-elected, Trump plans to abandon NATO and give a large chunk of Ukraine to Russia.
- Undermining the rule of law – Trumpists do not believe that the law should apply to their hero. They complain endlessly about the “unfairness” of Trump’s legal troubles, and have successfully managed to delay his legal consequences until after the next election. Trump’s Supreme Court even wants to put the President (Trump, but not Biden) completely ABOVE the law – like Putin, Orban, Xi, and Kim.
Cult behavior has become mainstream
The beliefs and practices listed above are so common now it is important to say once again, loudly, that these beliefs and behaviors are DEVIANT! They are un-American, and they are un-Christian as well. They are CULT BEHAVIOR, and serve only to promote Donald J. Trump and his fascist allies.
If the Republicans are successful in the next election, the America we used to know and love – the country of the people, by the people and for the people – will be forever lost. The party that talks the most about “freedom” is the party that is plotting to take it all away.
Sources:
Seth D. Norrholm, “We’re watching the largest and most dangerous ‘cult’ in American history,” Raw Story, May 30, 2024.
Maya Boddie, “‘Cult’: Democrat blasts GOP voters after poll shows Trump viewed as ‘source of true information’,” Raw Story, August 21, 2023.
— “Cult,” Wikipedia.
The judge in the Classified Documents case, Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, after delaying the case for months, just formally dismissed the case, claiming that the Special Counsel was unconstitutional. That, of course, says nothing whatsoever about the evidence we have all seen, boxes kept in a bathroom, by a candidate who won in 2016 by claiming that Hillary’s emails were a threat to national security. Next lesson in Sunday School is about a line of thinking that claims, “A man prospers by his strength, and “whatsoever a man does should be no crime,” unless of course, the crime is encourage faith by supposedly by claiming knowledge of God, and enforcing
conformity lest the followers “offend some unknown being.” Of course, as Brian reports here, the Big Stick used to cow Republicans into submission is the fear of Trump’s disapproval, by noticing and commenting on his very public catalogue of criminal and corrupt actions or by disputing the Big Lie about the election.
Yes, most of what you say is true, but the Democratic Party has not delivered for the working class enough. Among Utah Democratic candidates I am the only one to advocate for the repeal of Utah’s ruinous right-to-work law, THE ONLY ONE.
I concur with everything you have written! The Meridian Magazine brought out their Book of Mormon story about how demagogues rule…which surprised me because in the past they have been overwhelmingly shortsighted on Trump. This should be a wakeup call for LDS folks….but in talking with my 42 year old nephew yesterday (here in Utah)…they are clearly voting for Trump because they are convinced by him that the Democratic party is evil. I am going to have to give up following this election cycle because it is obvious that people have turned from the truth ( 2 Timothy 4 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.