Trump Cult Against America – OpEd

In 2016, Trump won the presidency as an outsider without a conventional political background, shaking up the Republican Party and the country. His influence grew as he created a loyal following that would back him no matter what he did or what scandals he faced. Even if this meant undermining the legal systems and standards that were built over years of hard work. Now this faction and its numerous supporters are trying to return their leader to power.

The devotees of Trump ignore the failures that he has inflicted on the Republican Party. They overlook the electoral losses of the Republicans in the 2018, 2020, and 2022 elections, which disgraced their party, and promise the return of Trump to the American people. Unfortunately, the general public is also influenced by this propaganda, and surveys indicate that Trump has a good chance of winning the next presidential election. If he wins, there is a risk that this cult will take over the party completely and ruin the oldest party in the United States. Moreover, the MAGA cult is not only aiming to weaken the Republican Party but also to destroy the system that gave rise to these parties and replace it with its own system. However, it is doubtful that even the senior members of the cult have a clear understanding or vision of what this alternative system is or what plans it has for governing the country.

As the cult leader, Trump possesses all the typical traits that this role demands; For instance, narcissism. He regards himself as superior to others and thinks that he has a vital mission that he must fulfill, and this is essentially one of the reasons why he attempted to get re-elected by any means possible, even by alleging fraud. That is why he believed that his mission was not yet completed.

He also has a charismatic personality. He attracts people with his charisma and captivates them with unique and controversial words and sometimes even with humor so that the substance of his words and the manner he behaves are not very important to them. What matters to the followers is how he confronts his rivals.

Seeking dominance and expecting absolute loyalty are also his features. Trump has demeaned his rivals in every possible way, whether within or outside the party and is trying to impose his supremacy on them. As we saw in the 2020 presidential election debates, he referred to his rival, Biden, with derogatory words such as “sleepy Joey” and the like, and ridiculed his poor memory many times. Also, he does not tolerate any kind of dissent and only expects absolute loyalty, which was also evident in the many changes in his cabinet.

However, Trump cannot act as a party figure, even if he wants to. Because essentially, his personality does not recognize any boundaries for himself and he cannot confine himself within the framework of a party. Also, if he takes over the leadership of the party, because the structure of the party is fundamentally different from the cult, and the members of the party voice their opinions freely and advance in its hierarchy based on merit, he will not be able to maintain this role for a long time and will be compelled to separate from it.

The 2022 election demonstrated clearly that Trump is more of a cult leader than a party leader. He supported people who lacked qualifications and blindly followed him despite his false claims of electoral fraud, rather than candidates with experience. This was one of the most evident signs of his cult-like influence. In that crucial election, Trump focused on consolidating and attracting his extreme right-wing base, instead of appealing to undecided voters or even regular party members, which could pose a serious threat to US politics. In fact, Trump has strengthened his ties with violent far-right groups such as the Proud Boys, as well as advocates of the Second Amendment (gun ownership), more than any other politician. Some of these groups are important to the Republican Party and provide them with campaign funding, but they are not a party and have a quasi-sectarian structure, which helps explain why Trump’s influence among Republicans has been so strong.

Joe Biden, who is essentially a party figure, is on the other side of the race. He has been in the party for a long time, serving as a senator, vice president, and president. This person does not have the ability to run the Democratic Party like Trump has dominated the Republican Party and played the role of a cult leader. In other words, an unequal war is about to happen, and the Democrats will face a very fragile and worrisome situation. Therefore, the future war in the United States will be a battle between a traditional party and a cult. A cult led by Trump. He will seek revenge, revenge against his opponents, revenge against the two-party system, and even revenge against America.