The title does not refer to Stalin or Mao and why should it? We have our own cult of personality right here in America worshiping our president Donald Trump. His acolytes adore him, disregarding his lies and contradictory actions to grovel at his feet. He loves the lavish praise heaped upon him by his sycophants, and indeed demands it if one wants to remain on his good side. When speaking of a cult of personality, everyone in America is aware whom we are describing, whether politically on the left or the right. It can only be “The Donald.”
When one thinks of how he has been performing as president, it is clear that Trump wants to be considered almost as a religious figure with all of his disciples honoring his slightest wish. He surrounds himself with lackeys who are totally obedient. Every powerful figure who was in his orbit or member of his cabinet has resigned or been fired by Trump for refusing to follow his directives or arguing against his policy. Strong men likes General Mattis, General Kelly, Secretary of State Tillerson could not accommodate to Trump’s whims and desires, some of which were bad for America. In fact, Tillerson was noted to have called Trump a moron, but one does not have to be smart to have a cult following. Trump’s IQ may be average or below but he has a high SQ or social quotient. He is able to convince many Americans to believe what he tells them, even if it is obviously false or repudiates what he has previously said. He knows that to be effective he just has to repeat his falsehoods over and over, the repetition making them true for those who adore him.
Think of the Republican convention which turned into a family convocation. In addition to Trumps lengthy acceptance speech, Melania spoke, four of his children spoke, Don Jr’s girlfriend spoke, all greeted enthusiastically by Trump’s worshipers. And every other speaker lauded Trump for the way he has been running the nation, ignoring the 180,000 plus Americans who have died on his watch due to his inept handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. And the worshipping goes on with some 40 odd percent of Americans approving of his presidency as he tries to change the focus of the campaign from the pandemic to law and order.
One wonders how anyone can approve of Trump given his disastrous management of the Covid 19 pandemic. But many Americans don’t know or don’t understand the mistakes he has made and listen to his speeches and tweets as the words of God. In fact, he has called himself “The Chosen One” picked by God to save America. This is in spite of the fact that he does not attend church, does not read the Bible, has been married thrice, has had multiple affairs, often swears and constantly lies. His base doesn’t care.
A cult is little different than a religion and the leader is believed and worshipped. For many of his followers, Trump can’t make a mistake and they cannot see and do not know how Trump is in the process of destroying America and democracy. Though his base worships at the feet of Trump, Trump worships at the feet of Putin. How do you describe a cult of personality whose leader worships another leader of a cult of personality? Maybe it would be easier if all of Trump’s followers transferred their allegiance directly to Putin instead of going through an intermediary. It would certainly make matters less complex.
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Posted at 09:24 AM in Biden, broken promises, Budget Deficits, Conspiracy theorists, Covid 19, Corona virus, Cult of personality, Current Affairs, demagogue, Donald Trump, election rigging, Health Care, Hypocrisy, narcissism, pandemic, Political corruption, Politics, Putin, Race relations, Republican Party, tax returns, The Chosen One, vaccinations | Permalink
Tags: acolytes, cult of personality, Donald Trump, Putin, Trump administration, Trump’s base, worshipers
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020