Why do some people say MAGA is a cult?

Question

abc3643 · Accepted Answer

QUESTION: Why do some people say MAGA is a cult?

ANSWER: Because it mostly is very much like a cult. Hypernationalistic ideologies like MAGA and NAZIsm are often like that.

Google prompt:

Is the "Make America Great Again" movement akin to a cult?

Google AI Overview response:

Whether the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement is akin to a cult is a subject of intense debate among psychologists, sociologists, and political analysts, with many observers noting that it displays several "cult-like" dynamics, particularly a strong personality cult centered on Donald Trump. While it does not function as a formal, isolated religious cult, experts in authoritarianism often describe it as a political cult or a "personality-driven brand of politics" that shares key characteristics with high-control groups.

Commonly Cited Cult-Like Characteristics in MAGA:

Charismatic Leadership: The movement is heavily centered on Donald Trump, with followers often exhibiting unquestioning loyalty, defending him against all criticism, and dismissing negative information as "fake news".
"Us vs. Them" Mentality: The movement frequently frames politics as a battle between supporters and a "corrupt establishment" or "deep state," deepening group cohesion and fostering hostility toward outsiders.
Information Control and Disinformation: MAGA rhetoric often encourages distrust of mainstream media and traditional government institutions, creating an environment where followers rely on a single, curated narrative.
Ritualistic Gatherings: Rallies often function as emotional, communal events that reinforce shared identity and belief in the leader.
The BITE Model Analysis: Cult expert Steven Hassan has argued that the MAGA movement checks boxes of his “BITE” model of mind control—behavior, information, thought, and emotional control.
Unwavering Devotion: A 2019 Monmouth University study found that 62% of supporters could not think of anything Trump could do that would make them disapprove of him.

Arguments Against the "Cult" Label:

Scale and Scope: Critics argue that labeling a mainstream political movement with millions of supporters as a "cult" is an oversimplification and a political attack, rather than a sociologically precise definition.
Political Engagement: Unlike traditional cults that cut members off from society, the MAGA movement is actively engaged in influencing democratic processes, local, and national government.
Voluntary Participation: Proponents argue that support for Trump is based on shared policy goals, cultural values, and economic concerns, not coercion.

Conclusion:
Many observers conclude that while MAGA is not a small, secret religious sect, it behaves like a "mainstreamed" political cult, utilizing authoritarian populist dynamics to create deep emotional and psychological loyalty to a single leader.

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For comparison, here's a similar prompt about NAZIsm, the movement led by Hitler.

Google prompt:

Was NAZIsm akin to a cult?

Google AI Overview:

Yes, Nazism is frequently described by historians as a "political religion" or a cult of personality centered on Adolf Hitler. It operated with cult-like dynamics, featuring unquestioning devotion to a leader, required ideological conformity, apocalyptic beliefs, and rituals designed to indoctrinate, such as rallies, cultic symbols, and the Führer cult.

Key elements highlighting the cult-like nature of Nazism:

Führer Cult/Personality: Hitler was portrayed as a messianic savior, designed by propaganda to be an all-powerful figure representing the ultimate good of the "Aryan race".
Rituals and Beliefs: The Nazi Party utilized religion-inspired ceremonies and language to generate intense emotional loyalty, replacing traditional religious devotion with faith in the movement.
Ideological Fanaticism: It combined pseudoscience, racial conspiracy theories, and radical antisemitism to create a world view that followers accepted over objective reality, similar to a "crisis cult" or "death cult".
Totalitarian Control: Nazism demanded complete subjugation of individual will to the party, using techniques that mirrored brainwashing to maintain obedience and promote "redemption" through sacrifice.
Occult Influences: Some studies suggest certain Nazi leaders were heavily influenced by occultism, paganism, and myths, which were integrated into their political ideology.

While it was a modern political movement, the methods and psychological hold it exerted shared significant traits with extreme, dogmatic cults.

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Something important to know: Trump kept a book of Hitler's speeches. From Vanity Fair's 2015 recollection of their 1990 profile of the Trumps...

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/08/donald-trump-marie-brenner-ivana-divorce

7 Takeaways from Vanity Fair’s 1990 Profile of Donald TrumpV. F. writer-at-large Marie Brenner’s investigation of Trump reveals he hasn’t changed much in 25 years.
By Vanity Fair
August 5, 2015

Donald Trump has lived the entirety of his adult life in the public eye, leaving behind a trail of bombastic headlines that include accusations of sexual assault, racist rental policies, and more than a mogul’s fair share of other scandals.

Twenty-five years ago, this magazine’s Marie Brenner spent some time with Trump for an investigation into the dissolution of his marriage to Ivana Trump. In retrospect, the story has all the trappings of a perfect Trump piece: discord between reality and Trump’s claims about it, accusations of disloyalty, and triumphant highs amid a string of batted-away lows. Here are seven takeaways that still matter.

...

4. When pressed on awkward topics—such as whether or not he regularly read Adolf Hitler’s speeches—he turns skittish and, perhaps, inventive.

Last April, perhaps in a surge of Czech nationalism, Ivana Trump told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that from time to time her husband reads a book of Hitler’s collected speeches, My New Order, which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed. Kennedy now guards a copy of My New Order in a closet at his office, as if it were a grenade. Hitler’s speeches, from his earliest days up through the Phony War of 1939, reveal his extraordinary ability as a master propagandist.

“Did your cousin John give you the Hitler speeches?” I asked Trump.

Trump hesitated. “Who told you that?”

“I don’t remember,” I said.

“Actually, it was my friend Marty Davis from Paramount who gave me a copy of Mein Kampf, and he’s a Jew.” (“I did give him a book about Hitler,” Marty Davis said. “But it was My New Order, Hitler’s speeches, not Mein Kampf. I thought he would find it interesting. I am his friend, but I’m not Jewish.”)

Later, Trump returned to this subject. “If I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never read them.”

Bottom line: Trump learned from Hitler.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

The only people who do NOT say maga is a cult are the people in it. Here are some characteristics of a cult:

A belief that the leader is right at all times
A belief that the leader is the exclusive means of knowing “truth” or giving validation
Absolute authoritarianism without accountability
Zero tolerance for criticism or questions
Lack of meaningful financial disclosure about their leader
Unreasonable fears about the outside world that often involve evil conspiracies and persecutions
Abuse of members who decide to leave the cult
Repeated denial that they might be IN a cult

Maga's exhibit ALL of these traits, and more. It's clearly a cult, and as I said, the only ones who don't think so are the cult members themselves.

Maybe_Maybe_not · Answer

Because there are cult-building characteristics to think of, as well as an audience for it: Cult of personality , using an idealized, messianic and heroic image of an admirable leader, fighting against corrupt elites or “deep state” forces.  “I alone can fix it.” Manichaeism , divisive rhetoric to isolate members from outside influences and reinforce tribal identity.  “The media is the enemy of the American people.” Doublethink , Trump presented himself as an anti-establishment outsider while embracing the very establishment he claimed to oppose. His administration appointed numerous lobbyists and corporate insiders to key positions, like former Goldman Sachs executives and industry lobbyists.

Snakeyes7 · Answer

Because they are retards who are too dense to figure out why people have liked him the past 10 years.

The reason people like Trump so much is because he is the only one or member of a few who has the slightest of chance of restoring America back to its original mission after well over a century of going astray economically and socially especially after Obama decided to stir up internal conflict between the minor differences and now liberals think racism is worse now than ever.

No one wants him to be king. Ask any of his supporters, which these soros funded "no kings" protests clearly haven't done.

strawberryapple · Answer

Because if you side with the president who is against open borders and allowing criminals in the country, you are a disgusting person.

But if you side with the president with dementia who lets terrorists, murders and rapists in the country, you are an awesome person.

Make sense?

exitseven · Answer

The democrats have become very irrelevant while President Trump has been running circles around him. By the time his term is done nobody will even remember them so they only way they can fight back is to call him and all his supporters racists , nazis or a cult. America First is not a cult. It is the biggest political movement in history.

Sirenboobzilla · Answer

Because their behavior tends to be bizarre. People who are in a cult will have unquestionably blind faith in their leader. It's hard to deny that MAGA has blind faith in Trump. The moment even Republicans start to question or challenge anything he says they're said to be traitors and have been bought off by the left. Then there's that weird ear thing after he got his paper cut.

Anonymous · Answer

Ignorance and delusion are a dangerous mix

It creates a kind of people that cannot be reasoned with and are wrong 100% of the time

We call these people “communists”
(And a few other synonyms to that)

And their opinion isn’t even worth the sound it produces

Anonymous · Answer

Because they mindlessly worship him no matter what he does and automatically believe everything he says even when they know it's a lie. They have lost the ability to think for themselves and are completely hypocritical in complaining about something Biden does and now praise Trump for doing the exact same things. That's how cults work.

Telekinetic-Potato · Answer

Because it distracts them from how much more of a cult the left is.  Like if MAGA is 3/10 a cult The left is 7/10

AMS700CX4u2 · Answer

Frankly, I don't know what it is. Just another Country Club? I don't know. They seem to have lost their focus.

strateguy632 · Answer

They hope to discredit the smarter maga, by using name calling, because they can't find any real mistakes!

purplepoppy · Answer

Perhaps it's the MAGA hats and merch plus flying flags with Trump on. Then there's the fact they call themselves maga.

Miristheiss · Answer

Wokeism and leftism are. Their core belief is in Godlessness.

darkcloud1945 · Answer

Just like the left cult, THE AMERICA LAST DEMOCRATIC COMMUNIST PARTY OF AMERICA, for the destruction of THE REPUBLIC

Mike_Hum · Answer

There are a lot of dumb people in this world, so they repeat stupid shit like “maga is a cult”

Agape93 · Answer

Because it's very culty

OneViewpoint · Answer

Because it MAGA meets all the criteria for a cult.

Dargil · Answer

Why do some people say Islam is a cult?

beefcakebradybatson · Answer

It's the epitome of a cult !!!

Why do some people say MAGA is a cult?

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