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January 27, 2025, edition of Fox News' Outnumbered

HARRIS FAULKNER (FOX HOST): Well, exactly a week ago this hour, we got a brand new president, number 47, for his second term and there are already calls to put his face on Mount Rushmore. A growing number of conservatives are pushing to add Trump to the legendary monument. They claim he's already done enough to be immortalized alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. And Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna says she's already filing the legislation to make it happen. Make Mount Rushmore great again? Jason?

JASON CHAFFETZ (FOX CONTRIBUTOR): Hey, if there's room up there, I think it'd be great. I think what Donald Trump has done and is in the process of doing is transforming the United States of America and putting America first. And I think America loves it and I think there's a great case for it.

FAULKNER: Kayleigh?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY (FOX HOST): Yeah. I'm fascinated by this because that would be some sweet irony after President Joe Biden stopped the fireworks display from Mount Rushmore. So if you did the, like, 250th anniversary of the country at Mount Rushmore with President Trump's face, it would be epic. There's also a petition now in Congress to change Dulles Airport's name to Donald Trump International Airport. So you have Trump and you have Reagan in D.C. And wouldn't that be something special for the swamp?

### On Presidents Day, Sinclair's Boris Epshteyn said the “presidents on Mount Rushmore may have to make room” for Trump

02/19/19 4:47 PM EST

### CBS’ Stephen Colbert mocks Sinclair chief political analyst Boris Epshteyn for suggesting Trump will end up on Mount Rushmore

:{02/22/19

### Rush Limbaugh Pushes To Add George W. Bush To Mt. Rushmore

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President Donald Trump has behaved so erratically and flip-flopped on important issues like war and affordability so often that experts often wonder why millions of Americans continue to support him regardless.

Now Sarah Longwell, a political consultant at the conservative website The Bulwark, shed light on that by exploring why millions of Trump supporters continued to back him even after he attempted a coup after losing the 2020 presidential election.

After explaining how an alternate right-wing media ecosystem existed for roughly two decades before Trump became president, and based on the presumption that there is a pervasive liberal media bias, Longwell described how she tried to explore the influence of this ecosystem in her own research.

"At first, Trump voters—even ones who’d supported him twice—were genuinely shaken," Longwell wrote. "I did a couple of focus groups six days after January 6, 2021, in the aftermath of Trump supporters violently storming the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Trump told them had been rigged."

"One group was with women who voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020, and another was with women who’d voted for Trump in 2016 and then switched to Biden. In the two-time-Trump-voter group, Jamie from Pennsylvania said she was 'appalled' and 'shocked' by what she saw," Longwell wrote. “I realized, but yet I didn’t, if that makes any sense, that there are people out there that could do that.”

Longwell proceeded to quote various survey subjects.

"Audra from Arizona said, 'I think the reason he should be impeached is really just so that he can’t run ever again,'" Longwell reported. "Trump was impeached the next day. The Trump-to-Biden group was similarly harsh. Like Tina from Pennsylvania: 'The windows were being cracked, people were being killed, I don’t understand how this happened like this. And if he’s behind it, they really should impeach him, get rid of it and that’s it.' For a brief moment, reality was undeniable, and people’s opinions of Trump became soft and changeable."

But from there, Longwell had bad news.

"Then the Republican Triangle of Doom kicked in—the toxic and symbiotic relationship between Republican voters, elected officials, and the right-wing infotainment media," Longwell wrote. "The voters who were horrified got bombarded with whitewashing spin almost instantly."

She described how everyone from conservative influencers to former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sold out the truth about Trump's insurrection in order to validate the biases of Trump supporters.

"Now, some Trump voters understood what happened and never came back," Longwell observed. "But the majority of them had spent four years defending Trump—online, at the dinner table, at work. They’d lost friendships over him. So when right-wing media offered them an alternative explanation, they took it. And then their opinions started to harden. Like cement."

She added, "Six months later, the narrative had completely shifted. I did focus groups in July, and Republicans had flipped completely from where they’d been on January 12. Annette, a 2020 Trump voter from Arizona, told me it was '100 percent orchestrated from Antifa.' Robert, a two-time Trump voter from Alaska, said, 'It’s been shown that they purposely let those people in the building.' He added that January 6th was 'all set up by the Democrat Party to make those people look bad.'"

Longwell concluded, "Without trusted messengers to help them make sense of what’s happening, voters are vulnerable to whoever gets there first with a compelling story. In our communications environment, public opinion can harden in days or even hours. If you don’t know where or how to talk to people, then you are going to miss every one of those persuasion opportunities."

Speaking to AlterNet in August, Dr. Steven Hassan — cult expert and author of "Combating Cult Mind Control" and "The Cult of Trump" — also argued, as did Longwell, that Trump supporters choose a biased information ecosystem to validate their cult-like support for the president.

"I talk about cults being spread across the entire continuum," Hassan told AlterNet. "There are a lot of cultish groups, but they give informed consent and encourage people to follow their conscience — they don't tell people what they can and can't read, et cetera — all the way to authoritarianism. And I see the people following Trump as largely being mind-controlled through information: through their social media posts, whether on Facebook, Telegram or WhatsApp, or through Fox News."

Hassan added, "So, going back to your initial question about how people are voting against their self-interest — it really comes down to what information sources they're relying on and who their network is that they identify with. So if they really love Joe Rogan, they're going to follow a lot of his views. And consequently, when he turns against Trump, Trump loses a lot of followers. What I'm trying to convey is that we're living in an age of digital manipulation that's never been seen before, with people's personal data being used to silo information — to drive them further left if they're already progressive-leaning, or further right if they're already Republican or conservative-leaning. And it's quite strategic in its use of algorithms. So it's not simply about looking at personality type, Matthew — the disposition of a person who becomes a Trump follower — but the social and information environment people are being subjected to."

In August, Hassan even described why so many Trump supporters receive the specific plastic surgery practice known as "Mar-a-Lago face" in order to show their loyalty to the aforementioned cult.

"My work is to really try to illuminate the mind and how undue influence can be exerted and the whole idea of cults all along the continuum from ethical tight-knit groups where there's freedom to think and question and leave without fear or harassment," Dr. Hassan argued at the time.

"... [W]e were talking about how so many MAGA people are getting plastic surgery, and they all look alike," he said, adding that if an individual is "in a mind control cult, you want to look the right way to fit in [with] that idyllic image of Christian white nationalists."

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Cult expert exposes the dark truth behind 'Mar-a-Lago Face'

Dr. Steven Hassan, who founded the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, walked through the expanding indicators of cultism surrounding President Donald Trump.

Frequently, the stereotype of cults is that people wear the same outfits, like uniforms, with matching hairstyles, robes and color-coded clothing, all to create a highly prescribed "look." Dr. Hassan said that what's become known as "Mar-a-Lago Face" is another representation of that.

The name has become an informal, usually mocking, label for a very polished, conspicuously cosmetic look associated with right-wing media and online culture around Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago social and political orbit in Palm Beach.

It's a label given to people with very smooth, tight-looking skin showing signs of Botox, laser treatments or facelift procedures. They also have prominent, high or very full cheeks, sometimes associated with facial filler or fat transfer. Sharp, defined and plump lips add to strongly sculpted or angular jawline, lifted brows a narrow-looking nose bridge, very white, veneer-like teeth and heavy makeup, bronzer or spray tan, false lashes, dark eye makeup, contouring, and a high-gloss finish.

There are many qualities in the list that match those of Trump aide Natalie Harp, who has been in the news over the past several months since the release of the book Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.

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Cult expert exposes the dark truth behind 'Mar-a-Lago Face'

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President Donald Trump is denouncing Joe Kent, his former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, for resigning in protest over his invasion of Iran. Now a respected columnist is warning Trump’s critics that although Kent may be correct in opposing the Iran war, that does not mean he is on the side of anti-Trumpers.

It just means that “it’s getting crowded under” the bus under which Trump keeps throwing people.

“How does media ― legitimate media ― cover a story in which a bad person does the right thing?” wrote Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Republic. “File under: A stopped watch is right twice a day. And more chaos from the Donald Trump era, and how that has affected media coverage.”

Goodykoontz then praised CNN anchor Dana Bash for explaining when covering the news that “Kent is not a typical intelligence official. He is a Trump appointee known for his ties to White nationalists, Nazi sympathizers and an embrace of the Jan. 6 conspiracy theories that we have seen so much (of) on the far right."

Goodykoontz said that “that is the perfect way to place Kent into context, and it should be repeated every time the story is updated. Good for Bash. (All the cable news networks covered the resignation, but Bash's was the most clear and efficient that I saw.)”

As for Kent’s fate, Goodykoontz expressed a rather blase attitude.

“Who gets thrown under the Trump bus next, and how will the media cover it?” Goodykoontz said. “It's hard to say, but it's getting crowded under there.”

Trump’s invasion of Iran is also harshly criticized by many of his fellow conservatives. Contributing to the conservative publication The Bulwark on Tuesday, commentator Jonathan V. Last wrote that Trump’s behavior is “stupid,” citing as one example that “mining the Strait of Hormuz is the single biggest danger America faced heading into any conflict with Iran. How did our commander-in-chief plan to deal with it?”

He added, “Six months ago the Navy decommissioned its four Avenger-class minesweepers that had been stationed in Bahrain precisely to deal with Iranian mines.”

Joe Rogan, a popular right-wing podcaster who openly supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election, admitted earlier in March that some Trump supporters felt “betrayed” by his invasion of Iran.

“Well, it just seems so insane, based on what he ran on. I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right?” Rogan said in an episode of his podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “He ran on, ‘No more wars,’ ‘End these stupid, senseless wars,’ and then we have one that we can’t even really clearly define why we did it.”

Another former Trump supporter, ex-Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), argued in February that Trump supporters who still back him despite his warmongering prove they are in a “cult.”

“I thought you wanted him to end wars all over the world,” Walsh said. “You said you wanted him to end American entanglement in conflicts and wars around the world. America shouldn’t be involved in these wars, you said. That’s why you’re voting for Trump, you said.” He then mentioned Trump’s invasions of Venezuela and Iran.

“And you don’t like when people call you a cult, Trump voters?” Walsh said. “What else are people to think when you voted for Trump to get us the hell out of wars around the world, and instead he gets us involved in wars around the world and starts new wars, and you still sing his praises and support him? What are we to think, MAGA, but that you are a cult?

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After President Donald Trump's bitter diatribe against Somali-Americans — including progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) — he got a vigorous defense from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Trump described Somali-Americans living in Minnesota as "garbage," calling for them to be deported "back to where they came from." And Leavitt praised his comments as "amazing" and an "epic moment."

Greg Sargent, host of The New Republic's podcast "The Daily Blast," discussed Leavitt's defense of Trump with former U.S. State Department official Vedant Patel in episode posted on December 8.

Sargent, a former Washington Post columnist, argued that Leavitt "went full cult in giving White House sanction to Trump's ugly bigotry."

Sargent told Patel, "White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted to this with obsequious praise, calling it 'epic.' We thought this was a telling moment. The Trump cult has gotten so out of control that his propagandists now go out of their way to deliberately highlight his most racist and disgusting moments and pump those up into moments of heroism and triumph. Meanwhile, almost no Republicans had anything critical to say about any of this. In fact, JD Vance pounded the table in agreement with Trump on Somalis. How far is this madness going to get?"

Sargent got no argument from Patel, who served in the State Department under former President Joe Biden.

Patel told Sargent, "I want to say that I wish I were surprised, but truly, Greg, I mean, this is a playbook out of the president's first administration. I mean, I think you recall that there was a really poignant moment in which President Trump was saying that he didn't want immigrants from a certain fill-in-the-blanks, swear-word types of countries. This is the exact playbook that we've seen before of dividing this country, targeting sort of immigrant communities. It's despicable."

When Sargent told his guest that the "cultishness is off the charts" with Trump's second administration, Patel responded, "I certainly would say so."

Patel continued, "Let's put the policy aside just for a second. Let's put the Somali piece aside for just a moment. I worked in the press office under President Biden. That is not the way you are supposed to be doing media relations. Let's remember that these are spokespeople that should be working. Yes, they work for a president, but really, ultimately, their job is to try to inform the American public, be good arbiters of truth and good engagers with journalists, help answer questions, help inform coverage and stories and TV packages and things of that nature. It is not to be sycophants and just be partisan hacks with a taxpayer dime."

*Listen to the full podcast at this link or read the transcript here.

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The latest casualty of Trump’s efforts to silence media criticism is Eduardo Porter, one of the most thoughtful and intelligent critics of this heinous regime.

On Tuesday, Porter wrote his last column for The Washington Post. In a widely-circulated email, he explained why he was leaving the Post:

“Jeff Bezos and his new head of Opinion are taking the paper down a path I cannot follow, directed toward the relentless promotion of free markets and personal liberties…. I have no idea to what extent this is driven by Mr. Bezos’ fear of what Donald Trump could do to his various business interests, most of which are more valuable to him than The Post.”

Well, I do have an idea. Bezos stopped the Post from endorsing Kamala Harris. He made a huge contribution to Trump’s inauguration. And he stood directly in front of Trump at Trump’s swearing in.

Why? Because Bezos owns a bunch of mega-corporations, including Amazon, that depend on Trump’s goodwill and could be in deep trouble if Trump decided to retaliate against Bezos.

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It’s much the same story with Stephen Colbert, longtime host of CBS’s “The Late Show” and the top-rated late-night talk show host in the United States.

On July 14, Colbert openly criticized CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for its $16 million settlement with Trump of his frivolous lawsuit over the routine editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris that Trump claimed gave her an unfair advantage in the 2024 election.

Said Colbert in his opening monologue:

“As someone who has always been a proud employee of this network, I am offended. And I don’t know if anything will ever repair my trust in this company…. I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles. It’s big fat bribe. Because this all comes as Paramount's owners are trying to get the Trump administration to approve the sale of our network to a new owner, Skydance.”

Three days later, on July 17, Paramount pulled the plug on Colbert’s show, eliciting from Trump a celebratory, “I absolutely love that Colbert was fired.”

(A few days later, Colbert came out swinging, telling Trump to “go f--- yourself,” and joking that it had always been his dream to have a sitting president celebrate the end of his career.)

Yesterday, one week after Colbert’s show was cancelled, Trump’s Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount’s sale to Skydance.

To cinch the deal, Skydance CEO David Ellison promised that he’d eliminate all U.S.-based DEI programs at Paramount and CBS and create a new ombudsman to field complaints of ideological bias in news coverage.

Trump says CBS also agreed to run $20 million worth of public service announcements consistent with his ideological beliefs.

Let’s be clear. Jeff Bezos has silenced any criticism of Trump on the editorial pages of The Washington Post because Bezos fears Trump’s wrath.

CBS and its parent corporation, Paramount, has silenced criticism of Trump on Colbert’s hugely popular “Late Show” because its top corporate brass fears Trump’s wrath.

The new owner of CBS has agreed to some federal interference in the content of what it produces because he fears Trump’s wrath.

The silencing is happening across American media because Trump cannot stand criticism, because he’s vindictive as hell, and because he’s willing and able to use every department and agency of the federal government to punish any media corporations that allow its writers or hosts to criticize him.

It’s the same with American universities, whose professors have often criticized Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional actions and whose research has often yielded conclusions that contradict Trump’s lies (such as that climate change is a “hoax”).

Columbia University, Dartmouth College, and a handful of others have gone out of their way to “cooperate” with the Trump regime in order to avoid Trump’s wrath.

What does “cooperation” entail? Silencing Trump’s potential critics.

Columbia has just agreed to allow the regime to review its admissions and hiring practices in order to receive the federal research grants that the regime had held back.

Friends, this is how democracy dies.

Shame on any media outlet or university that allows Trump to silence it.

Trump is a dangerous despot. America needs its Eduardo Porters, Stephen Colberts, and all others in the media and in academia who have helped the nation understand just how truly dangerous Trump is.

NOW READ:'It is a reckoning': DC insider blasts Baby Boomers — and blames them for Trump

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Trump's horrific cult contains the seeds of its own destruction

Thom Hartmann September 05, 2025

America is at risk of abandoning its founding principle of government, “by and for the people,” in favor of a system older than democracy itself: rule by one man.

Pretty much everybody understands that the United States and the old Soviet Union both had governments based on ideology or principle. The main notion of the US was expressed in the Declaration of Independence and has guided us toward what Lincoln called “a more perfect union” for 249 years:

“[T]hat all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

We call it democracy. It’s larger than any one president, any one Congress, any collection of Supreme Court justices or governors. It’s a foundational principle that’s held together by our Constitution and the laws we’ve passed over the years grounded in these core ideas.

For the Soviet Union, the idea was Marx’s, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” To accomplish this, they put together a single-party state that provided housing, medical care, food, employment, and education to every Soviet citizen; in exchange the populace was expected to work hard and never challenge the power or legitimacy of the state.

Everybody understood these basic structural differences. Both were governments being driven not by personalities but by philosophy.

Although one could argue that FDR and Stalin both had widespread support and, upon their deaths, left their nations shaken, neither was truly what you’d call a cult leader. Truman and Khruschev stepped in and each country kept humming along because both countries claimed guiding ideas larger then either of those men.

But there’s a third form of government that is rarely acknowledge in the American press or high school civics classes, except in history: rule by a popular strongman. When, on April 13, 1655, Louis XIV said, “L’état, c’est moi” (“The state is me” or “I am the state”) he summed up that perspective.

Saddam Hussein called it Ba’athism, but in reality he was the government of Iraq. Pol Pot called it communism, but in reality he was the government of Cambodia. Putin claims Russia is a democratic republic with a free-market economy, much like the US, but in reality he is the government of Russia.

From the earliest days of political science, scholars have warned of regimes where the ruler and the state become one and the same, something political scientists call a “personalist dictatorship” or “personalist rule.” (Jim Stewartson does a deeper dive into this here.)

Niccolò Machiavelli, in The Prince (1513), observed that in such systems the survival of the government was entirely bound up in the survival of the man at the top: “In a principality where the people have no share in government, if the prince is destroyed, the state is likewise ruined.” He understood that once power is concentrated in a single figure, the institutions around him become little more than ornaments.

A century later, the French jurist Jean Bodin gave this reality a new name: personalist sovereignty. In his Six Books of the Republic (1576), Bodin defined it as “the absolute and perpetual power of a republic, which is vested in a prince or in the people.” When that sovereignty was vested in a prince, the fiction of shared governance disappeared: the prince was the republic.

Modern scholars have only refined this insight. Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski, in their classic Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy (1956), argued that “the essence of the totalitarian state is that power is monopolized by a single man or a small group, and that all institutions are subordinated to this monopoly.”

Political scientist Juan Linz later described this even more bluntly:

“Personalist rule emerges when power is concentrated in the hands of one individual who dominates not only the state apparatus but also the party, the military, and the economy.”

Whether the label is Ba’athism, communism, or “sovereign democracy,” the reality is the same. When one man becomes the state, when his survival is the survival of the regime, you are no longer looking at a republic, a democracy, or even a functioning ideology. You are looking at a personalist dictatorship, a form of government as old as Machiavelli’s princes and as modern as today’s autocrats.

This is what Donald Trump is trying to turn America into, using the template Putin, Hitler, and Viktor Orbán — all personalist dictators — provided him.

This explains why he’d fire people with genuine expertise, from the State Department to the CDC to our intelligence agencies and beyond, and replace them with incompetent toadies.

Their first loyalty in a democratic republic would be to the truth, to the people, to serving a “we society” nation with their best diplomacy, science, or spycraft.

But in a personalist dictatorship, the job of every person in the government isn’t to serve the citizens who provide the “consent of the governed” but, instead, to exclusively serve Dear Leader.

This explains the mass firings, the slavish Cabinet meetings where Trump’s toadies slobber all over him, and the casual lies that are routinely told by the White House press office and senior Republican officials. It tells us why Republican members of the House and Senate only speak up for principle when they’re willing to also abandon their reelection plans.

It also explains the fragility of our current government, given Trump’s age and poor state of health.

When nations run of, by, and for Dear Leader lose that leader, the result is typically chaos and a major change in that form of government, unless the leader has first so successfully co-opted the entirety of the state systems that they’ll continue following the corrupt structures Dear Leader had put into place.

When a democracy loses a leader, in other words, the system continues. But when a personalist dictatorship loses its strongman, the system shatters.

Franco ran a personalist dictatorship in Spain right up until 1975, when he died and democracy returned to that European nation. Although defeat in war took them down, the loss of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo all signaled political transformations in Germany, Italy, and Japan. The same was true of Hussein’s Iraq and Gaddafi’s Libya, although their removals left power vacuums that led to arguably worse forms of government as opportunists and predators stepped in to fill the void.

Understanding these dynamics should inform Democrats and the few remaining Republicans who haven’t pledged their entire loyalty to Trump and Trumpism. The only true north of his reign has been self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement, things that require cult-leader-level charisma to maintain, so if Trump suffers death or incapacity before his term is out the power vacuum will be massive.

Already, Republicans are jockeying for the position of inheritor of the MAGA crown in an effort to replicate Trump’s one-man rule. JD Vance is assuring us he’s had plenty of “on the job training.” Marco Rubio is trying to play the statesman on the international stage, although Trump keeps sabotaging his efforts, from bringing peace to Ukraine to preventing India from dumping America in favor of an alliance with China and Russia.

Other opportunists and hangers-on, from Ted Cruz to Steve Bannon to Tom Cotton, are trying to position themselves as rightwing power brokers, although given how completely the Party has sold out to America’s rightwing billionaires and Middle Eastern autocrats, the final decisions about the fate and future of the leadership of the GOP will probably be made by a handful of morbidly rich men.

Democrats, meanwhile, are learning the lesson of fighting fire with fire, in this case the need for a “big” personality to take on the massive cult following — among the Republican base and within our now-corrupted government institutions — Trump has created. This is why Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker are getting such traction: both are punching back at the bully.

And they’re probably right about the way they’re going about it. In this era where spectacle and outrage have replace newsworthiness as driving forces propelled by social media, search site, and news site algorithms, it’s going to take a big personality to take down Trump or his successors. Somebody who can dominate the news cycle day after day while pounding a pro-democracy, anti-authoritarian message.

We’ve seen this in America before. When the GOP destroyed the economy with the Republican Great Depression, the huge personality of FDR stepped up and used the force of his own personal charisma and magnetism to put the nation back on track. Republicans squealed that FDR was “imposing socialism,” but he largely ignored them and focused on what was best for average working-class Americans, literally creating the modern middle class.

Right now, the only organizing principles held by Republicans are fealty to Trump’s whims and their own personal greed (and that of their billionaire donors). “Conservative” principles of efficiency in government, defense of democracies around the world, and fiscal responsibility at home have all been thrown overboard in favor of raw power, corruption, and a willingness to burn down the institutions of the Republic if it keeps them in charge one more election cycle.

To the extent that Democrats can forcefully point this out and strong, genuinely progressive politicians can step up into leadership, there’s a huge opportunity here to reclaim political power and put America back on the small-d democratic path. Particularly if or when Trump is no longer a factor in the GOP’s political equation, leaving his Party lost in the wilderness.

If Democrats rise to that challenge, they can lead America back toward democracy and progress. But if they hesitate — or if too many cling to the illusion that Trumpism is just another policy debate — then history will record that the oldest democracy in the modern world fell not to an ideology, but to the vanity and greed of one broken man and an opposition that failed to understand and then meet the moment.

We can’t let that happen.

NOW READ: Trump just accidentally revealed a dirty secret — and it has America's CEOs panicking

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Federal employees at the Department of the Interior are reportedly raising alarms over a weekly video series titled “Inside Interior,” which they describe as "propaganda" — a slick, over‑the‑top portrayal of President Donald Trump and agency leadership, complete with staged scenes and breathless narration.

The Daily Beast reportedWednesday that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, once tagged “Diva Doug” for requesting political appointees to bake chocolate chip cookies and summoning a U.S. Park Police helicopter for his own personal use, now finds himself at the center of growing backlash within his own department.

Staffers deride the Environment and Natural Resources Agency as “The Department of Propaganda,” a moniker born from their mounting frustration with weekly “Inside Interior” videos, widely criticized for their slick, "Dear Leader"-style presentation and unabashed praise of Trump and Burgum to a lesser extent.

The latest installment, according to the report, touts that “Interior made major moves to strengthen America’s energy future, protect taxpayer interests, and keep our nation’s capital city safe.”

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But the true inflection point came with a July 4 special that left many shaken. The clip opens with Trump dancing to the Village People’s YMCA, then cuts to him exiting Air Force One, greeted by cheering construction workers, before returning to more footage of Trump, much to the chagrin of those compelled to watch.

The report further noted that the narration heralds the day with a patriotic fervor likened to authoritarian regimes: “Happy Birthday America!” “Today we celebrate 249 years of American liberty, freedom and strength and we’re doing it under the fearless leadership of President Donald J. Trump, who reminds us every day what true patriotism looks like as he works tirelessly to make America great again.”

Critics among the staff have dubbed the presentation “North Korea‑worthy," according to the report.

Meanwhile, many already felt demoralized by deep cuts tied to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative and a policy shift prioritizing fossil fuel development over conservation.

A National Park Service employee told The Beast: “I have never seen a more blatant and deplorable display of propaganda on behalf of the Trump administration.”

Adding insult to injury, they note, “They even called for the USA to celebrate the 4th ‘the MAGA way!’”

Click here to read the Daily Beast's report in full (subscription required).

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A cult leader shows how Trump is taking America to a very dark place

Thom Hartmann July 13, 2025

Former FBI agent Michael Fienberg has gone public, pointing out that the agency, under the leadership of Dan Bongino and Kash Patel, is purging itself of people who are not members of the Trump cult (my phrase, not his).

Similar cult-like behavior is on vivid display with the White House press secretary, the head of DHS, and the head of the Department of Justice — among numerous other administration officials and elected Republicans — regularly spouting lies and half-truths that target women, immigrants, and Democrats.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is implying that the children who died in the Texas floods were the victims of a nefarious plot — presumably by Democrats or Jews who operate space lasers — to modify the weather, completely ignoring the fact that Republican-aligned fossil fuel billionaires have been engaged in a half-century-long scheme to sabotage our atmosphere with their carbon dioxide emissions in exchange for trillions of dollars in profits. Some of which, no doubt, have been shared with Greene or her campaign.

Multiple administration officials, elected Republicans, and rightwing media cult leaders on platforms like Fox “News” have been amplifying the racist, antisemitic “Great Replacement Theory,” that wealthy Jews are paying to “replace” white people in America with Blacks, Mexicans, and other people of color. This has led to ICE becoming the largest police force in America, with a budget larger than that of the entire Russian military, soon to be sweeping a neighborhood near you in their never-ending hunt for brown-skinned people.

Donald Trump didn’t need to lure his followers into a remote jungle, like Jim Jones did in Guyana. He didn’t need to physically isolate them from the rest of the world. Instead, Trump built his Jonestown right here at home, within the boundaries of our republic, brick by brick. He did it using over 30,000 documented lies, fear, rage, and the intoxicating promise of belonging.

Today, tens of millions of Americans are trapped inside Trump’s reality-warping cult. And just as Jones’ followers drank poisoned Kool-Aid believing it was salvation, Trump’s followers have swallowed his Big Lies and are now willing to sacrifice our Constitution, our democracy, and our future on the altar of one man’s insatiable ego.

This is an old story in new packaging.

Jim Jones wasn’t always a madman. In the beginning, he offered something people desperately wanted: community, belonging, equality. He drew in the lonely, the marginalized, the disillusioned. He offered them meaning, dignity, and the hope of a better world. But slowly, he twisted that hope into a tool of control, weaponizing his followers’ trust for his own wealth, power, and self-aggrandizement.

Donald Trump followed a similar cult leader’s path.

He didn’t invent the grievances he exploited. For decades, America’s middle class was gutted by Reaganomics and neoliberal trade policies. Jobs were shipped overseas. Unions were crushed. Wages stagnated while billionaires like Trump amassed obscene wealth.

Trump didn’t cause that pain, but he channeled it. He told working-class Americans that he alone could restore their lost greatness. At the 2016 Republican National Convention, he bellowed: “I alone can fix it.”

That wasn’t a campaign promise. It was a cult leader’s declaration. Like Jones, Trump positioned himself not as a servant of the people, but as their savior, the one indispensable man without whom all hope would be lost.

All cults, whether religious or political, thrive on division and a sense of victimhood. Jim Jones taught his followers that outsiders were out to destroy them, that they were surrounded by enemies, traitors, and saboteurs. He warned that the CIA, the media, and shadowy conspirators would annihilate Jonestown unless his people followed him without question.

Trump operates from the same playbook.

His enemies list is long: immigrants, Black voters, Muslims, women, Democrats, journalists, scientists, the “deep state,” election officials, even members of his own party who dare to tell the truth. He has spent years feeding his followers a steady diet of paranoia, victimhood, and grievance, convincing them that the only thing standing between them and ruin is him.

And just as Jones’ followers were taught to see dissent as treason, Trump’s followers are conditioned to see any criticism of him as an attack on themselves. They’ve surrendered their own personal identities to him and his cult. When he tells them that an election they lost was stolen, they believe it; not because the evidence says so, but because Trump says so. And in a cult, the cult leader’s word is truth.

Jones kept his followers in a physical jungle, cut off from the outside world. Trump does the same psychologically with the help of billionaire-backed media. His repeated attacks on the press as “the enemy of the people” are no accident: they are a deliberate strategy to isolate his followers in an information silo, where only his voice matters.

Fox “News,” Truth Social, MAGA podcasts, and a network of social media influencers form the walls of this new Jonestown. Alternative facts replace real ones. And when reality intrudes — when courts reject Trump’s lawsuits, when audits confirm his losses — his followers simply double down. “That’s just what the enemy wants us to believe.”

It’s classic cult behavior. And it’s why millions remain convinced that Trump won in 2020, that the COVID vaccine was a hoax or a plot, that January 6th was “legitimate political discourse.” Like Jones, Trump has taught his followers to see the world not as it is, but as he tells them it is.

When Jones’ utopia began to crumble — when defections and investigations threatened his power and a congressional delegation arrived to expose his lies and manipulations — he led his followers into mass suicide. Over 900 men, women, and children perished, drinking poisoned Kool-Aid to prove their loyalty.

Trump, faced with the reality of defeat in 2020, incited his followers to violence rather than admit loss. January 6th was America’s political Jonestown: a desperate, delusional last stand to keep their messiah in power. Trump didn’t just sit back as the Capitol was attacked. He watched with satisfaction, refusing to act for hours, while the very heart of our democracy was desecrated in his name.

And to this day, he defends that insurrection, calling those convicted of violent crimes “hostages,” giving pardons, and encouraging more violence if he’s indicted or loses again. Jones destroyed his followers; Trump is willing to destroy our nation.

I wrote about this back in the summer of 2023 in an article titled, “Will America Face “Narcissistic Collapse” as Trump Descends into Legal Hell?” Narcissistic collapse is what happens when psychopathic narcissists face defeat and humiliation and strike out against the world around them.

Think Hitler in his bunker when my old friend Armin Lehmann, then a 16-year-old Hitler Youth, handed him the news that the war was lost. Armin wrote a book about his experience, In Hitler’s Bunker: A Boy Soldier’s Eyewitness Account of the Fuhrer’s Last Days, which we discussed extensively when he was writing it and during the three years we traveled the world together, lecturing mostly across Europe and the Far East.

Hitler, in those final weeks — Armin told me and the historical record verifies — actually welcomed the destruction of Germany by American and Soviet bombs and tanks.

He hadn’t failed: his narcissism and the cult he had created and surrounded himself with wouldn’t let him confront that.

Instead, in his mind, the German people had failed, his generals had failed, his soldiers had failed. They had failed Germany, but, more importantly they had failed him and his cult — and he wanted them punished for failing him.

When he was finally pushed into full-blown narcissistic collapse — those final days that Armin spent with him — he succumbed to the fate of many severe narcissists who experience a failure so undeniable that it provokes full-blown narcissistic collapse: he killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself.

In the final stages of narcissistic collapse, long before suicide becomes an option, first comes the blaming and the attempts to punish others.

We see this now with Trump blaming the media, the courts, and the Democrats he now openly brags that he “hates” and encourages his cult followers to hate as well.

Historians and political scientists have long warned us about men like Trump. In Strongmen and on her Lucid Substack newsletter, Ruth Ben-Ghiat traces the path of authoritarians like Mussolini, Putin, and Trump: they all consistently cultivate a cult of personality, demonize opponents, destroy the press, capture the courts, collaborate with oligarchs, and use violence as a political tool.

Trump has followed that playbook to the letter.

Jason Stanley, in How Fascism Works and on his Forward Substack, identifies Trump’s tactics: appeals to a mythic past, relentless lying, glorification of violence, and the creation of a “victim” identity for the dominant group. Steven Hassan, one of America’s foremost experts on cults, calls Trumpism a “destructive political cult” in his book The Cult of Trump and on his Substack newsletter Freedom of Mind.

These aren’t wild theories. They’re the sober assessments of professional scholars and historians who’ve studied how democracies fall and how cults rise.

It’s easy to see Jones’ Kool-Aid as the symbol of his evil, but let’s not forget: Trump’s lies have already cost real lives.

His downplaying of COVID, his undermining of vaccines and masks, his promotion of quack cures like hydroxychloroquine and bleach weren’t just irresponsible: they were deadly. Hundreds of thousands of Americans would be alive today if Trump hadn’t turned public health into a culture war battlefield.

And now, his Big Lies about the election and the “deep state” are poisoning faith in our democracy itself. In poll after poll, a majority of Republicans say they believe Trump won in 2020. They believe it so deeply that they’re passing laws to suppress votes, installing loyalists to oversee elections, and preparing to reject any future result that doesn’t favor their Dear Leader. The poison is spreading and fast.

So what comes next?

Jim Jones didn’t start out plotting mass suicide. He got there one lie, one power grab, one act of cruelty at a time. Trump’s path is no different. His first term tested the boundaries. His second is breaking them.

Already, Trump openly promised dictatorship “on day one.” He’s already pursuing “retribution,” purging the government, and rounding up immigrants into camps. He’s gutted the civil service, weaponized the justice department, and is today using the military for domestic crackdowns.

This isn’t hyperbole. It’s all on the record. And it’s what happens when a cult leader gains the reins of state power, as the world has seen repeatedly throughout history.

We don’t have to follow Trump into the abyss. We can refuse the poison. We can choose the hard work of repairing our democracy, telling the truth, and holding this would-be strongman accountable.

But time is short. The cult is deep, and its leader is relentless.

History tells us where this path ends. Jonestown. Berlin 1933. Rome in 1922. Moscow in 2020. The question is whether we have the courage to change course before it’s too late.

Trump may not have led us into a jungle, but he has led millions into a psychological wilderness, where lies are truth, enemies are everywhere, and only he can lead the way out. Jim Jones led his people to destruction, all in the name of salvation. Trump is leading America down the same road.

We must say no. We must tell the truth. And we must do it now.

NOW READ: The most dangerous guy at Fox News is probably not who you think

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no lnx

'The cognitive dissonance is frightening': Inside the manipulation of Trump's supporters

John Stoehr June 29, 2025

As I was editing the following interview with Charles Gaba, founder of ACAsignups.com, I was reminded of something Will Stancil told me during my chat with him. Will said, “I think people are used to living in a relatively stable era and have come to believe that stability is normal."

Will was talking about the dominant interpretation of political history among liberals. For most of us, the battles of the past settled the biggest arguments, and from those settlements arose a period of relative peace and stability that nearly all of us take for granted.

Will said: “Liberals have trained themselves to see the world through this very particular end-of-history lens, where the ‘stuff that matters’ is inevitably wonky policy questions, the day-to-day of taxes and government, who gets subsidies, what healthcare policy looks like.

“But it’s ridiculous. History isn’t over, the future will contain events as dramatic and horrible as the events of the past, and this stuff is just what it looks like: an assault on the foundations of our government, with all the terrifying and weighty implications that it seems to have.”

Complicating this is the concept of American exceptionalism, which is to say, the idea that America is the exception to the rule of the world. In most of the nations in global history, might has made right. The law was never applied equally, or universally. It has usually been just another tool of political elites to maintain their preferred status quo.

But liberals don’t want to believe that about America, even when they acknowledge that the country often falls short of its stated ideals. We tell ourselves that whatever tyranny we face is a temporary setback to the inevitability of America's soul being revealed once and for all.

Because of this faith, most liberals, but not only liberals, can’t imagine a future in which the government is trying to hurt them. We say that that only happens in times like the early 20th century, in places like Soviet Russia or Maoist China. There are no gulags here, we say. The government can’t possibly seek to inflict mass suffering and death.

We have to change this mindset. America is just like any other country. It’s not that special. We can love it, flaws and all, even when it’s not the exception to the rule of the world. The battles of the past century have not settled the biggest arguments. Social instability arising from insane public policies will almost certainly become the new norm. And the government can, as it seems to be doing now, try to kill the sickest 5 percent of the population to create conditions for controlling the rest.

In the dark disturbing interview with healthcare policy expert Charles Gaba that follows, the specter of social Darwinism lurks in the background. The unstated belief behind every policy decided by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is “the survival of the fittest,” in which the strong should rule and the weak should die.

“Everything [Kennedy], the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are doing seems to be intended to ensure that sick people simply die off, which presumably would make those who survive healthier on average, thus achieving his ‘MAHA’ goal,” Charles said.

Robert F Kennedy Jr wants to change the way children are given vaccines. First, is there a problem with the status quo? What are they looking for that we don't know about, if anything?

To the best of my knowledge there aren't any issues with the status quo beyond some states being far too lenient on vaccination requirements (religious objections, etc). My view is that the sole exceptions should be people who have legitimate medical conditions, which make them unable to take a particular vaccine.

The argument seems to be that children are being over-vaccinated as a way of padding drug companies pockets with unnecessary vaccinations. The claim seems to be that children are extremely unlikely to die from or to be seriously harmed by covid, for instance, and therefore, it's unnecessary to vaccinate them – except that even if true, they can still be carriers who infect higher-risk adults, and so on.

It seems like this is what happens when conspiracy theory finds traction in public health policy. Is that right and why?

Absolutely. The most recent anti-vax movement (sparked by [British fraudster] Andrew Wakefield and popularized by celebrities like Jenny McCarthy) started out as more of a left-leaning thing via "granola mom" types (I believe Marin County, California, is considered the "birthplace" of that resurgence) in the late 1990ss and early 2000s.

I think – and again, I'm not an expert on this – it began gaining major traction among Republicans during the 2016 GOP primary when Donald Trump told a vague anti-vax story about a supposedly non-autistic child who "became" autistic after getting vaccinated.

And of course this thinking went into overdrive among MAGA Republicans during the covid pandemic, even though it was the administration of their own lord & savior, Donald Trump that helped develop the very mRNA vaccines they were protesting against.

Since then it's gotten so far out of control that Republican lawmakers in several deep-red states – including Iowa, Montana and Idaho – have actually introduced legislation that would ban mRNA vaccines!

The cognitive dissonance is frightening.

So conspiracy theories are being used to rationalize political outcomes? If so, one of the outcomes is death. Getting rid of people is a rightwing goal, historically. We can say that reasonably, no?

Vaccine specialist and science communicator Edward Nirenberg put it best this morning: "If I were HHS secretary and my goal were to kill as many children as possible, it would be difficult to distinguish the actions I would take from those that Kennedy has taken."

In this particular instance he was referring to yesterday's announcement that RFK Jr is withdrawing US funding from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), but he could be talking about any number of other policy changes RFK Jr has made already.

I don't know if it's a "rightwing" goal generally, but it sure as hell seems to be the goal of the Trump administration and MAGA Republicans.

When RFK Jr rolled out his "Make America Healthy Again" campaign, the assumption was that he intended to make existing Americans healthy. Instead, everything he, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are doing seems to be intended to ensure that sick people simply die off, which presumably would make those who survive healthier on average, thus achieving his "MAHA" goal.

Call it Operation Nietzsche, I suppose.

I've written several explainers about the goals of the Affordable Care Act and how health insurance risk pools work, which involve this concept: Generally speaking, around 5 percent of a given large population tends to eat up around 50 percent of all medical spending.

Kennedy’s and the administration’s "logic," therefore, seems to be that if you simply killed off the sickest 5 percent of the population, healthcare costs for the remaining 95 percent would be cut in half.

This is obviously immoral and appalling, but it also seems to be the driving force behind many of their decisions.

It sounds like social Darwinism has been restored in popularity. I mean, even MAGAs, who will themselves be killed by such policies, will nevertheless support them if they also kill people who are "undeserving." It's like a suicide cult that few can see.

This is a trend that folks like Jonathan Metzl (one of his books is literally titled Dying of Whiteness) have been talking about for years, and which I analyzed extensively during the covid pandemic.

I found a direct and steep correlation between Trump support and covid death rates as well as a direct inverse correlation between Trump support and vaccination rates at the county level.

Lyndon Johnson famously put it best:

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”

Another goal of rightwing politics is social control. Kennedy came close to saying that when he said this week his goal is everyone wearing "wearables" in four years. How is this even debatable?

The irony goes through the roof. One of the biggest and most absurd conspiracy theories among the MAGA anti-vax crowd regarding covid vaccines was that they supposedly included tiny "microchips" that would "magnetize" you, and allow Bill Gates to track your every move etc. (Of course, the fact that everyone carrying smartphones around these days pretty much allows various companies to do exactly that already was apparently lost on them).

Yet many of the same crowd gush over Elon Musk's companies, including Neuralink, which literally implants microchips into the human brain, and Tesla, which can literally track the location of their cars (so can most other carmakers to some extent these days).

And now you have RFK Jr pushing for "everyone" to wear small devices on their bodies that allow private companies and/or potentially the federal government to track not only your every move but your most private medical and health data via biometrics, etc.

Meanwhile, Republicans in some states like Virginia have introduced bills to track women’s menstrual cycles, something which Vice President JD Vance was a proponent of as recently as 2023.

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an 6 25

In most cults, having an independent opinion is discouraged and even punished. Group leaders often suppress critical thinking and skepticism, viewing them as a threat to the movement's unity and control. Members who express doubts or disagree are often viewed as "traitors" and a threat. Finding themselves forbidden from drifting off script, they are forced to parrot talking points handed down to them by the cult lieutenants.

Bertrand Rusell once observed, “As soon as we abandon our own reason and are content to rely upon authority there is no end to our troubles."

When the TACO gestapo descended on Los Angeles to conduct ICE raids, three MAGA “influencers” - Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobiec, and Matt Walsh - all posted the same message to X within a few hours of each other:

“It's time to ban third world immigration, legal or illegal. We've reached our limit and we have a huge cultural, educational, housing, financial, and essential services problem to fix now because of it. We need a net-zero immigration moratorium with a ban on all third worlders.”

It wasn’t long before MAGA armchair soldiers started posting the same message, verbatim, in comment threads across multiple platforms.

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Granted, the rhetoric was far more articulate than what had been peddled by the cult leader himself. Regarding the first “50501” rallies that took place in the spring, Harris Faulkner of Fox News asked Mr. Trump, "What do you think they [protestors] need, right now, from you?”

"Protesters for different reasons. You're protesting also because, you know, they just didn't know. I've watch - I watched very closely. Why are you here? They really weren't able to say, but they were there for a reason, perhaps,” the 47th President of the United States replied. "But a lot of them really were there because they're following the crowd. A lot of them were there because what we witnessed was a terrible thing. What we saw was a terrible thing. And we've seen it over the years. We haven't, you know, this was one horrible example, but you've seen other terrible examples. You know that better than anybody who would know it. And I know it. I've seen it, too. I've seen it before I was president. I've seen it. I think it's a shame. I think it's a disgrace. And it's got to stop."

When the second round of rallies, known as the “No Kings” protests, made headlines, it was obvious the lieutenants handed out the official response. Once again, cult member upon brainwashed cult member took to comment threads offering the same line: “If a king were in power, you wouldn’t have the right to protest.”

The French Revolution was, in part, a protest against King Louis XVI. It stemmed from widespread discontent with the monarchy's absolute power as well as social inequalities and economic hardships faced by the common people.

It’s mildly ironic that on June 11th, just days before the protests, Mr. Trump attended a performance of Les Misérables, a musical about the French Revolution. It’s downright humorous that some patrons paid $2 million to sit in a performance box, attend a VIP reception with the President, and take a photo with him; while others paid no less than $100,000 to attend the performance, a reception and receive a photo of the demagogue.

A week or so later, following the unprovoked strike on Iran, the official response posted by the Proud Boys, Gravy Seals, and Meal Team Six read: "If you're no longer MAGA because Trump wiped out Iran's nuclear sites, you were never MAGA to begin with."

Henry David Thoreau wrote, "Think for yourself, or others will think for you without thinking of you."

Ezra Klein seems to agree.

"Trump is acting like a king because he's too weak to govern like a president. He is trying to substitute perception for reality. He is hoping that perception becomes reality. That can only happen if we believe him,” the New York Times columnist observed.

The MAGA movement, on the other hand, believes and says what they’re told, when they’re told. Theirs is a Stepford approach. To observe this, one only needs to revisit the faces, void of emotion, that sparsely lined Constitution Avenue for Trump’s military parade-charade.

Attempting any form of dialogue with a member of MAGA is often like trying to communicate with a brainwashed clone. Whether out of fear or ignorance, they’ll rarely drift from the assigned talking points. Hence, most efforts to foster understanding are futile.

NOW READ:'The cognitive dissonance is frightening': Inside the manipulation of Trump's supporters

*J. Basil Dannebohm is a writer, speaker, consultant, former Kansas legislator and intelligencer. His website is www.dannebohm.com. Mr. Dannebohm is a member of the Virginia Press Association and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. He writes from the Washington DC metro in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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AN 6 25

an 6 25

When MAGA Republicans take offense at President Donald Trump's supporters being described as a "cult," critics have no problem citing specific examples of cult-like behavior.

For example, Trump is fond of wearing red ties — and MAGA men will wear red ties to express their solidarity. And Trump's female supporters, Salon's Amanda Marcotte argues, will alter their appearance in order to look more MAGA. For women, according to Marcotte, "Mar-a-Lago face" includes "a combination of aggressive plastic surgery, fake tan, and make-up spackled on so thick that it would crack."

Trump voters, critics say, engage in cultish behavior when they make death threats against Republicans for offering even mild, tepid criticism of the president.

In an article published by The New Republic on June 2, Poulomi Saha — a professor at the University of California, Berkeley — lays out some reasons why critics of the MAGA movement often describe it as a "cult."

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"It's hard to pinpoint exactly when the word cult affixed itself to Donald Trump and his movement," Saha explains. "It may have been as early as 2016, when, weeks before the Iowa Caucus, Trump declared with god-man-like aplomb that he could shoot someone in Times Square and not lose a vote. It may have been mid-2018, when Bob Corker, a Republican senator from Tennessee, fretted as he left office about the 'cultish' turn in the party. Or maybe it can be traced to a New York Times editorial board op-ed, published a few days before Corker’s comments made the news, which nervously noted the rapid transformation of the Republican Party into a machine for devotion to a single mortal."

Saha continues, "Certainly, by January 6, 2021, and the mouth-frothing fervor of Stop the Steal, cult had gone from being a political jab to a term of art, widely employed to describe the apparently invincible thrall in which Trumpism holds millions of Americans."

The UC Berkeley professor describes "Trumpism" as a "mass delusion fueled by charisma, shared grievance, aspiration, and a stubborn rejection of inherited truths" that "bears no small resemblance to…. insular, shadowy communities of faith and heterodoxy."

Saha warns that for true believers, cult beliefs don't go away easily.

"Jonestown didn't end with the Kool-Aid; it became a metaphor for not heeding caution," Saha observes. "(Charles) Manson went to prison but became a cultural icon. (Josef) Stalin was embalmed, but his political blueprint persists — in India, in Turkey, in America. The cult documentary's finale is just the opening act of its cultural immortality."

Saha continues, "Our hunger for the collapse of Trump's movement isn't just about justice — it's about the thrill of witnessing a story we know how to consume. But history doesn't follow scripts. Faith and loyalty are not so easily shaken."

*Poulomi Saha's full article for The New Republic is available at this link.

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AN 5 25

Since the start of his second term in office, US president Donald Trump has cultivated a political atmosphere that discourages freedom of thought. He also actively villainises and punishes any dissenting opinion. Worryingly, this atmosphere looks like it is spreading across other democracies.

Commentators have described Trump as both narcissistic and authoritarian. Yet, running parallel to these factors, one character trait is glaringly common among Trump supporters: sycophancy.

You just have to examine the pre-election rhetoric of Trump loyalists. One backer, Stephen Miller, declared him “the most stylish president … in our lifetimes”. Miller is now deputy White House chief of staff.

And South Dakota governor Kristi Noem gifted Trump a four-foot Mount Rushmore replica – with Trump’s face added alongside the original four presidents. Noem, who is now secretary of homeland security, epitomises the elevation of loyal sycophants over those with arguably better credentials.

Research has examined the dangers of sycophantic behaviour in the workplace, finding it reduces peer respect and morale, and leads to dissonance and lower productivity.

Other research has shown that someone who chooses to employ these tactics can enjoy improved promotion prospects, rewards such as the first refusal on business trips, easier access to company resources and a higher salary compared to their peers. But studies have also shown sycophants often suffer emotional exhaustion from the dual stresses of manipulation and responsibility.

Ongoing research I (Neil) am doing on workplace sycophancy reveals similar patterns. Interviews, spanning from junior staff to CEOs, show reduced motivation, falling team morale and declining respect for sycophants.

One participant highlighted the effect on teamwork that sycophantic behaviour can have within the workplace.

Sycophancy means raising yourself in somebody’s esteem, at the expense of somebody else, on the ladder. And so… it’s going to impact upon on the ability to be part of a team.

Another participant offered a comparison to a different deviant workplace behaviour – intimidation.

I’d say that sycophantic behaviour is coming into the same category as bullying. And it’s hard sometimes, especially with bullying and sycophantic behaviour, you are dealing with a lot of people that are manipulative, and manipulating people are quite charismatic. And when you’re charismatic, you’re more believable because you’re a storyteller.

One solution that emerges from the research is workforce education – teaching employees to recognise and mitigate a culture of ingratiation.

As an employee, many people might find it difficult not to bow to peer pressure. If the senior colleague encourages and rewards those who suck up, how do other colleagues, who do not choose to utilise such tactics, compete?

Dangerous ideas take root

Another factor to consider is the tendency for some workers to “kiss up and kick down”. What this means is that staff who are lower down the hierarchical ladder suffer detrimental treatment from the colleagues who are trying to suck their way up the same ladder.

If workforces were educated on what these tactics looked and felt like, perhaps included in corporate codes of conduct, HR departments and management could identify potential issues and deal with them.

But this is not merely an HR concern. Previous research also shows a link between ingratiation, high turnover rates and poorer performance by the organisation as a whole.

Perhaps the most insidious aspect of sycophancy is the push for conformity when it comes to opinions. If leadership hears nothing but agreement, dangerous ideas can be reinforced. Things like the leader’s own skills or the competence of the organisation as a whole can become wildly exaggerated – with disastrous consequences.

When leaders are surrounded by “yes-men”, they’re deprived of critical input that could challenge assumptions or highlight potential flaws. This can lead to cognitive entrenchment where decision-makers become overconfident and resistant to change. Bad decisions then proceed unchecked, often escalating into systemic failures.

In return, this can lead to groupthink, a phenomenon where a desire for harmony overrides rational evaluation. Environments that suffer from groupthink often ignore red flags, silence whistleblowers and overvalue consensus. All of these things are damaging to an organisation’s ability to remain agile and competitive.

Which brings us back to Trump. In his case this isn’t a corporate crisis. It’s a geopolitical one. At stake is not shareholder value but national security and global stability.

With sycophants backing poor decisions, the risk ranges from damaged diplomacy to outright conflict. If loyalty replaces truth, the cost could be catastrophic. Trump’s regime may ultimately collapse under the weight of its own delusions – but the collateral damage could be profound.

Neil Beasley, PhD Candidate in Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University and Madeleine Pickles, Reader in Organisational Transformation and Teaching Innovation, *Liverpool John Moores University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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an 5 25

When President Donald Trump met with his Cabinet the day after reaching the 100-day milestone last month, members took turns excessively praising him — prompting many commentators to describe his apparent need for constant approval as “cult-like” behavior.

However, in a Sunday article for*Salon*, journalist and podcast host Jonathan Hirsch offered a different take, drawing on his own childhood experience growing up in a cult.

Hirsch recalled growing up in a Northern California commune devoted to Franklin Jones, a self-proclaimed divine guru who led the group Adidam and claimed, “I alone am the way.” Immersed in the cult from childhood — his parents were even part of Jones’ inner circle. The author experienced its teachings and inner workings firsthand.

He said he heard Trump use the same words, "I alone," which reminded him of the years he "spent as a child under the specter of an authoritarian spiritual figure."

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"As a child, I was led to believe that one man — in our case, an ordinary-looking guy from Jamaica, Queens, New York, exactly the same neighborhood where Donald Trump was born and raised — was in fact … God. The startling parallel between these two men, and that phrase in particular, remains intensely resonant for me," Hirsch wrote.

He argued that the word "cult” now means "so many things that I’m no longer sure it means anything at all."

"And no modern public figure is more often described as a cult leader than our duly elected president. A few months into his chaotic second term, the question of whether or not the movement that he has started is effectively a cult has become a live one once again. To appreciate how we got here, we need to understand the word itself, and how it caught fire in popular culture," the author wrote.

Hirsch argued that while Trump craves loyalty and thrives on the devotion of his supporters, his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement has not fully crossed into cult territory. He added that a true cult is led by a narcissistic leader who demands total control, but the public still retains some power.

"For now, we still have a choice," he said.

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AN 525

A massive banner of President Donald Trump is now hanging from the outside of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s building in Washington, D.C., opposite a banner of President Abraham Lincoln. Several critics are suggesting the hanging is fascist or authoritarian, with some saying it is giving off North Korea vibes.

“Looming down from the pillared front of the neo-classical facade is an enormous, brooding picture of President Donald Trump, adapted from his official presidential portrait,” The Independent reported. “The picture of Trump is reminiscent of portraits of leaders hanging from public buildings, often seen in dictatorships, monarchies, and in descriptions in George Orwell’s 1984 of ‘Big Brother.'”

Progressive nonprofit People For the American Way posted a photo of the USDA building with the Trump banner, also saying it is “echoing authoritarian dictatorships.”

“This is deeply fascist,” observed Democracy advocate, Army combat vet, and podcaster Fred Wellman.

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“Trump is spending $92 million on a birthday military parade and plastering his face on the sides of government buildings. Washington, DC is becoming Pyongyang, North Korea,” podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen noted.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins posted photos of the banners being installed, while suggesting that President Trump’s policies have been good for farmers — a controversial opinion given his tariff and trade wars, and program cuts.

The Bulwark’s Tim Miller wrote: “Its interesting that these freedom loving MAGA alpha males want to institute this deeply creepy 3rd world culture where we have a national daddy that must be obeyed.”

Political analyst Rachel Bitecofer warned Trump is “going to go full Putin.”

“Welcome to North America’s North Korea!” exclaimed Russell Drew, a self-described amateur historian and political junkie.

See the social media posts above or at this link.

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When President Donald Trump a day after he crossed the 100-day mark of his time in office last month, members of the cabinet took turns to praise the president.

Although everyone offered glowing reviews, Attorney General Pam Bondi stood out by telling Trump that he was genuinely the best president of all time.

"President, your first 100 days has far exceeded that of any other presidency in this country. Ever. Ever. Never seen anything like it. Thank you," she said during the Cabinet meeting.

In a podcast for The New Republic discussing Trump's need for constant approval, journalists Greg Sargent and Amanda Marcotte described the "over-the-top" praise he receives from his aides as feeding into his "narcissism.""Every emotion is exaggerated to the maximum. They pretend to be angry at the loudest volume. They pretend to be sad with the biggest droopy faces and wailing tears. Everything’s loud and garish and schmaltzy," Marcotte said.

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"Most of us would be embarrassed to have somebody praise us like that because we know it’s not true... But he just needs it to just be constantly coming into his ears. And it’s getting worse as he ages, for various reasons. Any psychologist will also tell you that when narcissists are feeling insulted or they’re feeling their insecurity rise up, often because their approval ratings are coming down or they’re otherwise failing, their need to be told they’re the greatest just continues to go up."

Sargent and Marcotte also analyzed White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's description of the president, calling it "cultlike."

"She routinely fluffs Trump with astonishingly cultlike descriptions of him to reporters—ones that portray him as powerful, calm, and completely in command of events. But then, left to his own devices on Truth Social, Trump presents the opposite picture, erupting regularly in wild meltdowns and uncontrollable hissy fits over the tiniest of slights," Sargent said.

According to Marcotte,"the over-the-top nature of it does affect certain people by convincing them—I don’t think Trump’s voters, even his biggest fans, think he’s the greatest president ever; the person with the most integrity via all time; no person has ever been anything more thing than Donald Trump ever has."

She added that repeated claims such as, "He’s the greatest businessman of all time," unintentionally reinforce the notion that he was at least a successful businessman, which is actually false. "He was a failure. He bankrupted his company over and over and over again," Marcotte said during the podcast.

The speakers also discussed "AI-generated and real photographic imagery of over-the-top abuse" of migrants detained by the administration "and functionally kidnapped and renditioned to a foreign prison."

"And they shaved their heads. They made sure to like make their tattoos as garish as possible. They had videos of them bent over in these torture positions. And you see the effect that it has on the audiences at Trump’s 100-day rally. The crowd went absolutely nuts," she said.

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Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, speaking at an Anchorage event on Thursday, had harsh words for much of her Republican Party but praise for a rare GOP member who, like her, is willing to criticize President Donald Trump: Alaska’s senior U.S. senator.

“I can’t be here in Alaska and not mention the incredible courage of Sen. Lisa Murkowski,” Cheney said near the start of her event, held at a packed theater in the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.

“You see it almost every day. There are very few Republicans who will be consistently counted on to do the right thing. And she’s one of a very small group,” Cheney said.

The former U.S. House member from Wyoming – and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney – spoke at a lecture hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska World Affairs Council. She took questions from veteran journalist Elizabeth Arnold, who teaches at UAA.

Like Murkowski, Cheney voted to impeach Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and opposed him in other ways.

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Unlike Murkowski, who was reelected in 2022 over a Trump-backed challenger, Cheney lost her seat in the GOP primary to a Trump loyalist, Harriet Hageman, who now represents Wyoming’s single House district.

That was after Cheney co-chaired the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and Trump’s role in it, and after she had been stripped of her GOP leadership role by fellow House Republicans because of her opposition to Trump’s actions.

She is aghast that Trump, now back in the White House, has pardoned those rioters, including those who attacked police officers – and that Republicans in office have gone along with those pardons.

“When you hear the Republicans, any Republicans, saying that they are the party that supports law enforcement, you know, please go back and look at the videos of Jan. 6,” Cheney said. "Remind those Republicans that Trump watched the events unfold on television for three hours without trying to stop the riot."

"He watched police officers get brutally beaten by people who were carrying his flag; they were doing it in his name … And then, when he came into office, he pardoned all of those people,” she said.

The Republican Party as a whole — with a few exceptions like Murkowski – has betrayed its convictions and even the U.S. Constitution to become “a personality cult” loyal only to Trump, Cheney said.

Today’s GOP is “something we haven’t seen in this country before,” she said. “The party has walked away from the Constitution,” said the former House member, who noted that she grew up as a Republican and cast her first vote for President Ronald Reagan.

Cheney spent much of her speech calling out House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders of Congress who she said have enabled Trump’s attacks on the rule of law and other bad actions.

“The problem with Mike is that he’s fundamentally dishonest,” she said.

And they have enabled rank incompetence and corruption in the Trump administration, the most serious of which is Trump’s attack on the rule of law.

Voters should take action to counter the cult-like devotion that has given Trump and his administration ”carte blanche,” Cheney said.

“That’s why it’s crucially important that in 2026, the Republicans lose the majority in the House and the Senate,” she said.

She also called on the audience and public at large to continue protesting Trump administration actions, writing letters to the editor, contacting members of Congress and state legislators and even consider running for office to replace bad officials.

It was a message embraced by the event audience. Many of those attending Cheney’s address had walked over to the theater after attending a May Day anti-Trump protest held a few blocks away on downtown Anchorage’s Park Strip. Several times during the event, the audience erupted in applause and cheers.

Cheney herself has continued to be politically active since losing her House seat.

She started a political action committee and has been supporting candidates she believes will counter the Trump movement – most notably, former Vice President Kamala Harris, who wound up losing the 2024 presidential election. She wrote a book, titled “Oath and Honor,” that details the confrontations she had with fellow congressional Republicans over the efforts to overthrow the 2020 election results. She has also been teaching at the University of Virginia and traveling the country to speak at events like that held Thursday in Anchorage.

Returning to elective office remains a possibility, she said. “I don’t know if I will end up being a candidate again myself. But it’s certainly not something that I’m ruling out,” she said.

That statement was greeted with enthusiastic audience applause, and some follow-up back-and-forth quips to close the evening.

“Clearly, I should move here to Alaska,” Cheney said in response to the applause.

“We have ranked choice voting,” Arnold said.

“And you have one good senator,” Cheney replied.

“We have room for one more,” an audience member called out.

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Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: info@alaskabeacon.com.

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Critics of President Donald Trump often accuse his supporters of behaving in a cult-like fashion. And two recent examples are being highlighted by Media Matters' Matt Gertz and former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Illinois), a Never Trump conservative.

Trump, on occasion, has accused Fox News and Fox Business of not being sufficiently supportive of him. And Fox News' competitor, Newsmax, prides itself on being to the right of Fox News and even more pro-Trump. But in reality, Fox News' and Fox Business are extremely pro-Trump. And Gertz is highlighting a recent example: Fox News' response to Trump announcing, on April 9, a 90-day postponement of most non-China tariffs.

Trump made his tariffs announcement at a time when his steep new tariffs were causing the stock market to tank and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was saying a recession was "likely."

But Fox News, Gertz noted, was spinning the announcement to make it look like Trump was showing himself to be a master of "the art of the deal."

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Gertz tweeted, "'Art of the Deal': Fox propagandists spin wildly for Trump's 'huge' tariff 'win.'"

In a separate tweet, Gertz posted, "Meanwhile, reporters at outlets including Fox pointed out that Trump had 'capitulated' out of fear that his unilateral imposition of massive taxes on all of our trading partners was triggering a collapse in the bond market."

X user The Darkest Timeline Numbersmuncher, in response to Gertz, tweeted, "You wouldn't know the difference between Fox News and 'state media' or even a religion owned media outlet. It's beyond parody, but they know exactly what they're doing."

Numbersmuncher isn't the only X user weighing in.

Never Trump conservative Justin Sexton posted, "Our dear leader brought the DOW down 1,776 points in a heroic display of patriotism."

Writer John Thorsson commented, "It really is something to see Fox become the equivalent of RT."

Meanwhile, social media users pointed to a Thursday Cabinet meeting as an example of cult-like devotion to Trump.

Former Barack Obama Administration official Tommy Vietor wrote, "Everyone should watch these Trump admin Cabinet meetings. Most modern Cabinet meetings are more performance than debate or discussion, but this is some North Korea-style clapping and weeping for Dear Leader humiliation for all involved."

According to Walsh and journalist Aaron Ruper, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi was among the Cabinet members who exhibited cult-like behavior.

Rupar tweeted, "Pam Bondi brazenly lies, tells Trump that he was 'overwhelmingly elected by the biggest majority' and says 'you have the authority to determine how the money of this country will be spent.'"

Wash, responding to Rupar's tweeted, post, "This is so f------ gross. This is a cult."

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Critics of President Donald Trump often describe the MAGA movement as a "cult," arguing that Trump supporters behave like cult members when they express their relentless devotion to him and explode in anger at even subtle criticism.

But Salon's Amanda Marcotte takes the MAGA/cult analogy a step further in an article published on April 10, comparing the GOP of 2025 to a suicide cult in which Republicans avoid criticism of Trump no matter how bad his "idiocy" becomes.

"History's most famous cults are known primarily for their final suicidal acts: the mass poisoning at Jonestown, the self-immolation of the Branch Davidians, the self-asphyxiations of Heaven's Gate," Marcotte explains. "We know these things happen, but it's still a mystery to most of us how cult members get to this point. Why didn't they hit the eject button sooner, as their leader descended further into his incoherent megalomania? Why did they stick by him, even as it became increasingly clear he was putting the whole community on a pathway to self-destruction? Why didn't more people voice doubts or even confront the cult leader before things got this bad?"

Marcotte continues, "We're getting a compelling illustration on the national stage of how a cult leader can induce his followers to stick by him, even as he loses his mind and his behavior becomes too erratic and dangerous to defend. Almost every Republican on Capitol Hill knows that Donald Trump's tariff plan is political suicide, but few are willing to admit that Dear Leader fully intends to see this idiocy to the very end. Instead, most resemble the residents of Jonestown, many who hoped Jim Jones was testing their faith with all this poison-Kool-Aid talk, which allowed them to play along until it was too late to save themselves."

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Some right-wing conservatives and libertarians aren't shy about offering scathing condemnation of Trump's policies, from tariffs to his obsession with the U.S. acquiring Greenland. But those on the right who bash Trump frequently are likely to be MSNBC or CNN pundits or writers for The Bulwark — and they have long since been banished from Fox News, Fox Business and the Republican National Committee (RNC).

Nonetheless, Marcotte notes that there is a caveat with Trump's "Jim Jones fantasies": Some of his supporters are expressing their frustration with tariffs, including GOP Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and John Kennedy of Louisiana — albeit in a "passive" way. And Republicans in Congress, according to Marcotte, have a "collective action problem" when it comes to Trump policies that trouble them.

"Few are willing to be the one seen questioning the infinite wisdom of Dear Leader, lest they draw his ire and be singled out for punishment," Marcotte observes. "Instead, they resort to passive language, in hopes they can convey their concerns without daring to question whether the MAGA prophet is not the wisest man who ever lived…. What ties all this together is a fear of criticizing Trump directly, and instead hoping that all this gentle hand-holding and blame-shifting will give their leader the space he needs to stop the madness."

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Some voters who supported Donald Trump in the 2024 election are now expressing buyer's remorse, including government workers who were abruptly laid off because of the mass downsizing of the federal workforce being carried out by the Trump Administration with the help of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Others are upset because they are now realizing that Trump's steep new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and other countries will hurt them financially — or because they are troubled by Musk's anti-Social Security comments.

Such voters are likely to be independents or swing voters who favored Trump in 2024 because they blamed then-President Joe Biden for inflation — even if they voted for Biden in 2020. And now, they are deciding that Trump is hurting, not helping, them economically.

But Salon's Amanda Marcotte describes a different type of 2024 Trump voter in an article published on March 21: those whose "devotion to the MAGA cult" remains strong despite the ways in which Trump is making their lives worse.

Marcotte points to Wisconsin resident Bradley Bartell as a prime example. Although his Peruvian wife, Camila Muñoz, is in danger of being deported back to Peru, he doesn't regret voting for Trump in 2024.

"Losing your wife to own the liberals: Sounds like a parody of a Donald Trump voter, but it's turning out to be the story of Bradley Bartell, a Wisconsin man whose wife, Camila Muñoz, is being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement," Marcotte explains. "Muñoz is a Peruvian immigrant who overstayed a visa, after being trapped in the country during the pandemic. She met Bartell while working illegally in the U.S., but because she married an American and is working on a green card, the couple thought it was safe to go on their honeymoon in Puerto Rico. Now, she is sitting in a Louisiana detention center, having been arrested at the airport."

Marcotte continues, "Initially, much of the reaction to this story was framed in terms of 'regret,' with some outlets claiming Bartell is 'questioning' his vote. It's an understandable error…. I took to Bluesky and warned people that there was no evidence that Bartell had learned a lesson, gently predicting he would stand by Trump. On Wednesday, (March 19), that prediction came true, with Bartell telling Newsweek, 'I don't regret the vote,' even as he asked people to donate to GoFundMe to raise cash for Muñoz's bond."

Bartell, Marcotte notes, "twisted himself in knots to argue that this wasn't Trump's fault."

"None of this is to single Bartell out," Marcotte argues. "On the contrary, the reason it was so easy to predict how he would react is that this is typical of most Trump voters, whose devotion to the MAGA cult reliably outstrips what should be more pressing concerns, such as the safety of their families. We saw this during the pandemic, as Republican voters — unable to admit liberals could be right about anything, including the germ theory of disease — refused to take precautions and even rejected the vaccines that Trump himself had authorized research funding for. The result was also predictable: death rates from COVID-19 among Republicans swiftly outpaced those of Democratic voters."

Marcotte draws a parallel between the "MAGA cult" and Scientologists. And she makes a distinction between MAGA diehards and "low-information" swing voters who favored Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024.

"The term 'Trump derangement syndrome,' applied to anyone who criticizes Trump, functions like 'suppressive persons,' the Scientologist phrase for outsiders," Marcotte writes. "It doesn't just warn members against listening to reason, but contains a threat: this is how you'll be labeled if you leave the fold…. Think of these folks like people who get audited by a Scientologist once, on a lark, but are weirded out by the process and never go back. Not everyone who encounters a cult is sucked into it forever. The key is focusing on those who never put more than a toe across the threshold, instead of those who walked all the way in and shut the door behind them."

*Amanda Marcotte's full article for Salon is available at this link.*

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