Earlier this month, my husband returned home from a visit to our longtime mechanic with a frown on his face. He explained his disappointment and frustration over encountering a life-sized cut out of Donald Trump and the absence of masks on the faces of the owner, our trusted mechanic, and his employees. Without a word, he said he turned around and left. I was surprised by the news and then had to stop myself from stereotyping all older white males like our former mechanic as members of the Trump cult.
It is undeniable, however, that many of the insurrectionists caught on camera were clearly older white males and females. Then, the people making their way to Cpac this weekend were those same older white people. Again, I remind myself that not all older white people are Trump cult members. But if someone is a Trump cult member, are they are likely to be an older white person? It could be that older white people are the ones we see on television because they have the financial means and free time to attend these events. No matter the actual demographic of Trump loyalist, I’m baffled by how otherwise decent people fell prey to the Trump cult. And by definition, it is a cult.
A cult is broadly defined as misplaced excessive devotion directed to a particular person or object. Those who continue to swear allegiance to Donald Trump in place of our Constitution and the value of common decency are members of a cult. And that cult has taken over the Republican Party. There are a few old school Republican holdouts, but they are vastly outnumbered and they have targets on their backs. In my view, they have already lost their party and its traditional values.
The Republican Party no longer represents policies around fiscal responsibility, small government, low taxes, law and order, family values, and individual freedoms. Instead it has become a Trump Cult rooted in xenophobia, white supremacy, voter suppression, anti-science, anti-intellect, and targeted discrimination, with lying, corruption, arrogance, mean-spiritedness, scapegoating, and selfishness as a acceptable norms. We got a taste of what happens when these people are in power: 500,000 Americans dead, innocent children in cages and separated from their parents, setbacks in clean water and clean air, a rise in hate crimes, and of course an insurrection over lies about a “stolen” election.
It is not surprising that people who know Trump cultist have reported on their personality changes. Many have abandoned their Christian values altogether in favor of a selfish and unhinged kind of arrogance that means they refuse to wear masks, they openly ridicule minorities, and they choose to accept obvious lies instead of the truth. It’s as though their constant consumption of conspiracy theories about evil democrats and lowlife minorities have so filled them with fear and hatred that they unwittingly fell prey to the Trump con game, believing that he will protect them from these imaginary enemies. He convinced them that he alone can save them and the country from those who are hellbent on destroying “their” country. They are paying his legal bills, pumping his already over inflated ego, and paving the way for a second Trump presidential candidacy in 2024.
We must be vigilant in these dangerous times. We now know that these Trump cultist are armed and dangerous. We now know that they exist among our armed forces and our police departments. We now know that they are running for office at the city, state, and national levels. They have declared war on our democracy in misplaced loyalty to a tyrant. Imagine what our country will become if Trump cultist are fully in charge. We already had a taste! And none of it was good!
I’m glad my husband walked out of the auto-shop. Perhaps it will take acts like my husband’s along with family and friends who are courageous and loving enough to challenge loyalty to Trump when they encounter it. My real hope is that Trump is convicted and imprisoned for his years of criminal behavior and is precluded from ever running for office again. I hope the insurrectionist of January 6th are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I hope the current Congress will protect voter rights. I hope Americans will pay closer attention to whom they vote for. And I hope Americans will refuse to support media outlets who spread conspiracies and lies. Maybe then, the cult will die and the true Republicans can get their party back.