Donald Trump is like a cult leader, says religious studies scholar - (Independent, UK):
- Donald Trump is akin to a cult leader and his supporters are reminiscent of disciples of a sect, according to a religious studies scholar, Reza Aslan
- The intense sentiments expressed by President Trump’s support base shared more parallels with religion than politics. Such groups tend to exhibit a few common characteristics. They are usually formed around an individual whom they’ve elevated to prophetic and near divine status.
- Trump has harnessed the kind of emotional intensity from his base that is more typical of a religious revival meeting than a political rally, complete with ritualized communal chants ('Lock her up!’).
- Aslan argued President Trump was adept at getting his supporters to indiscriminately believe everything he said.
- Mr. Trump’s barbed and frequent attacks on the mainstream media, which he notoriously disparages as purveyors of “fake news”, were yet another example of his cult-like tendencies.
- The authority that a cult leader exercises comes from his self-ascribed role as the one true information source for his followers. Competing ideas and facts are not just wrong; they are demonic.
