Trump will make the nation go blue, if only because of his shtick, doing his insult-comic bit at the campaign rallies. The problem is that he truly believes that these rallies constitute his presidency, entertaining a cult following. Because he’s a star, the WH gig is a cover of some Sasha Baron Cohen performance. Each speech is a mix of so-called “observational humor” in a stand-up format, although he’s like Gallagher except that lies are the props.
"We're gonna defeat socialism and put a man on the face of the moon."
Despite the growing allegations about his misconduct, President Trump remains idolized by many of his supporters. His campaign rallies feature fans whose devotion is unwavering. When Trump insulted a supporter he mistook for a protester for being overweight, for example, the supporter later said he was not insulted: “Everything’s good. I love the guy.” Trump counts among his fans not only voters but also fellow world leaders. Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, also explicitly told Trump “I love you” when they met at the United Nations.
These expressions of love should be concerning. They share features with the unconditional form of love typical of political cults that has often manifested in dangerous ways.
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Another consequence of this political cult and idolizing the leader: It led followers and minions to take the heat for their leaders. They absorbed blame for the leaders’ failures, leaving the leaders’ images intact for the rest of their followers. The cult of personality was so strong that it took extreme economic hardship and military defeat to pierce the belief that leaders were infallible, sent by God to renew the country.
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Lies, propaganda and the glorification of violence are not new in modern American politics. What is new, however, is that the current occupant of the White House is borrowing so many elements from fascism: racism, a pseudo-religious cult of personality, a myth about a golden past where one ethnic group ruled uncontested over the others and a steady stream of propaganda using contemporary mass media forms.
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