The Trump Cult feat. Douglas Rushkoff

A monologue from Douglas Rushkoff of Team Human, on how the dynamics of cult thinking might help us understand the seemingly irrational commitment to Trump by his supporters.

First, a disclaimer: This piece is not about politics but the deeper motivations of the Trump constituency, how they are reinforced, and how they reflect the higher, almost spiritual ideals informing nearly a third of Americans right now. Further, Trump is hardly the only politician to have exploited the dynamics of cults; the Clintons and Obamas also leveraged the cultish devotion of their followers.

"But Trump’s particularly loyal core constituency — his ability to joke that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose the support of his base, or to convince surrogates to endorse an ever-changing assortment of conflicting facts — suggests a more intense, cultish loyalty than we have seen before. Even Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) has begun to use the word “cultish” in describing the GOP leadership’s fear of contradicting the president. And the boldness with which Trump scolds his detractors — especially those in his own administration — closely tracks with the behavior of those who use their charismatic power to control others.

The parallels to the cult of Trump are obvious."

A full transcript of the essay that inspired this talk can be found on Rushkoff’s Medium page. https://medium.com/s/greatescape/the-trump-cult-73b6a0efd0ee

Check out the full show: https://teamhuman.fm/episodes/ep-101-alissa-quart/