While Republican lawmakers carry water for the cult, most of them don't really believe in it. They are opportunists who found that many folks are leaving religion, so they had to pivot to find a willing audience who will vote against their self-interest. To martyr themselves. They found MAGA.
MAGA may have abandoned religious institutions but they still ignorantly believe in a class-based, race-based, gender-based economic system. Historically, fascist class-based economic systems (with or without Christianity) only allow the rich to get richer.
I sound confident because I am. I know MAGAs. I am related to MAGAs. I speak to MAGAs. They will not leave their popularity or solidarity. They feel validated. They are enjoying their time in the sun and nothing Trumps says or does will lose many. A few may peel away, but most will not.
I don't have the patience. Grateful no family is that ......
This all day. It's been clear to me for a decade that not very many libs have maga in their family of origin. These people do not see or admit fault. They do not apologize. Stop thinking you can sus out what they really mean or think. There is no deeper anything. He hates who they hate. Full stop.
The reason Trump posted the long rant this morning telling his followers to calm down is because they will. When he tells them to jump, they ask how high. When he tells them to relax, it will all be over soon, they trust him. I don't want to be right...I just live in MAGAland and know this.
A big piece of the loyalty of Trump’s base is is that after all of this time, and all of the warnings which they dismissed, and the countless denials of Trump’s manifest misconduct, Trump’s followers just can’t admit they were wrong because to do so would mean they won’t “win.”
they're not gonna win a fucking thing tho
A psychic win, not a material win in reality. I wish I knew how we could do some sort of mass intervention.
Jess, I agree cognitive dissonance is fairly overwhelmed by cultural identity. On the other hand, every incidence of the former erodes the foundations of the latter. It's like pH levels. Over time high levels of acidity will doom the host organism.
I've read that authoritarian cults are liable to split when a new belief system is as satisfying as the old & a new cult-leader appears & promotes the different beliefs. But I fear you're correct, Jess. There's no such alternative now, this is a deep & personality-driven cult. Sick, sick followers.
You are right.
Maybe. Even cult followings end at some point. I’ve messed up many predictions in the Trump era so I will never say never.
People do leave cults...
Yes! And cults come to an end at some point. Not always pretty…often catastrophic. In any case I don’t think this MAGA sh*t has the goods to endure but predictions are fraught. Hell, the Third Reich only made it 11 years and they were a lot smarter than this crew.
There's also the speed of internet v. newspapers and radio which probably changes the impossible-to-make-precisely-anyway calculus. I hear Jess Piper's point and I do not doubt her assessment but a cult is more like a microbial colony that we can't guess the parameters and stressor of.
I've thought the same thing. Not only will MAGA calm down, at least 40% of them will start believing/repeating the lunacy about Obama, Hillary, and Biden being responsible for the Epstein Files. The other possible outcome is that Trump releases a redacted/altered version that only implicates Dems.
I hear you, but I respectfully disagree. When people are denied something they've long been promised (their enemies' heads on spikes) by their leader, and he tells them to just shut up about it, a huge crack forms in their psyche, and what once validated them no longer works so well anymore.
At least you’re not in hillbilly MAGA land.
Peolpe I've know for most of my life who are MAGA. The approach I take with them has been all wrong. MAGA is a cult. This may try your patience, but it works. www.patheos.com/blogs/keithg...
www.patheos.com/blogs/keithg...
I don’t think I could do that with MAGA and be authentic at the same time. There’s nothing positive about MAGA and it impacts all our lives way too much for me to pretend I’m happy for them to be a part of it. Will read your second article now.
I agree with all you write and do. But I will make a big asterisk here. When you trick Magats, the oldest part of their caveman brain which is from where most of their conduct originates, will feel not just threat of death but threat of extinction of species. The reaction will be deadly.
Because that part of the subconscious brain contains ... the .. need .. to .. be .. right!
Trump made his Magats wrong and scolded them. That won't work for him. Unlike GOP senators such as Murkowski who shame the budget bill then vote yes after back alley bartering their own budget perks, Maga ain't gonna swap anything to accept OK, NO EPSTEIN FILE.
Time to bring the Alex Acosta scandal that included the rapist making him a cabinet member front and center again.
Trump will only be happy when he’s the only person left. He despises America; not even hiding it. But USA does not belong to the head administrator. She cannot be shrunk to his narrow vision of fake perfection. Big Society will not allow it.
So we don’t let them off the hook. Make sure they don’t turn this into a short news cycle. Every day we ask them. It’s a small sample but maga on Facebook have stfu this past week. And when I ask about Epstein they flounder. It’s their kryptonite let’s not waste it
Anyone who thinks differently hasn’t been paying attention.
It’s not the MAGAs I’m focused on with the Epstein stuff, though. It’s the non-hardcore believers, people who came for the show. The people who never paid attention to politics until an entertainment figure led them into it. They’re the ones I want to try to fracture from the coalition.
If anyone cares to help 😞
OH: In the car service lounge in ruby red America, “All the Democrats want to do is remove him”
You are always correct about what makes the cult tick. I appreciate your activism, standing up for democracy.
I think if the Dems keep hammering the issue they can at least put some vulnerable members of Congress in a tight spot. Peeling a few voters away in tight races could make a huge difference.
We don’t need to convince all of MAGA — there’s a certain percentage who are lost in their bubble. We just need to peel away a few percentage points.
100% right. Weak people always attach themselves to bullies.
Makes Me wonder what’s going on simultaneously that we are missing…???
I think a lot of people are seeing some maga influencers who are angry and assume it is trickling down to the everyday maga. It’s not — they are mad, but not that mad.
Besides all that (which I also agree with) where would they go? They'd probably put up with anything rather than go to 'the other side.' "Owning the libs" is a big part of their fun & comfort zone.
I’m sure Thiel is grooming their next phase of political dear leaders.
Shady J. D. is not a comforting idea as a replacement should the old man not make it to the end of his term. ugh
Yes! Arguably far worse, cuz he’s a more effective con man. That’s why calling for impeachment & removal isn’t enough. The whole regime, the full cabinet & line of succession must go. & I’m sure they’ve all committed enough crimes for a court to remove them.
Is it possible tech bros want to make their move and get rid of him? Is P2025 ready for phase2 and they are confident they’ve eroded enough laws they don’t need a cult personality leader as they think they have enough momentum to continue without him?
I wonder if They're shocked at how much mental instability/decline exists and have decided to excelerate plans?
I doubt there is anyone in the world who wants that file released more than Vance.
The influencers are pissed an ideological revenue stream has been disrupted, their "credibility" undermined. The evangelical maga are fine with all crimes he commits, as long as they continue to believe they own him. That was they pact they made. "He's a monster, but he's OUR monster."
💯 Sigh.
I totally understand & believe that. A lot of maga think the purpose of women and girls is for their pleasure. Rape isn’t even a thing to them, that’s their version of “sex” & submission is what us bitches are supposed to do “like it says in the Bible”
Cults can end. I don't know if this one will any time soon but it is possible.
And he called them his “boys and girls”! They will swoon like giddy teenyboppers.
Puppets.
Do you think this will come to a Jim Jones moment because this base is so rabid & disconnected and Trump is so sadistic? 📢🆘🇺🇸
Agree!
Yes I agree with you I am in Indiana and our governor tries to be more like his orange hero every day and his followers eat it up And they actually believe everything Trump says Or at least they pretend to
Exactly!
You are so right in rural mo red community its quite stomach turning to live here the only reason I do all my grands are here. Mo though is about to get very expensive thanks to the nuclear bs going on jess. www.ksdk.com/article/mone...
Here's my theory, based on what I know about human nature: About half of the 35% of Americans who are MAGA will turn on Trump. But... That won't happen until they personally experience pain that can be traced directly to him. Others' pain means nothing, but THEIR pain will break through the denial.
Their time in the sun! Maybe some may quietly exit when their housekeeper is deported or their sibling dies of cancer….
So what do we do about it?
I completely agree, but even being around and related to MAGA, it's still shocking to me how widespread this is. When are we going to deal with the fact that tens of millions of Americans are in a cult? That their psychological and cultural makeup led to cultism? America is a land of broken people.
Truth, friend.
Agreed - I know MAGAs too and am related to some. They are religious nuts and yes it’s still hard for me to understand how the two go hand in hand. They will not leave MAGA- ever.
If you can believe in invisible sky gods I guess you can believe pretty much anything
For MAGA to reverse course now would be admitting that they are wrong. From my experiences, they just will not do it. So Trump marches on.
I do not think my MAGAt relatives are like that. Instead, they accept what their religious leaders tell them and right now, they're telling 'em that tRUmp is the one and Republicans are the party, full stop. So those leaders need to be exposed as charlatans.
"they feel validated" explains the cult in a nutshell
They made Stumpy, not the other way around. Removing Stumpy is not cutting off the head of the rattlesnake, it's just cutting off a few of it's rattles.
Same.
It's like Heather Cox Richardson has said. They will have to admit wrongdoing in supporting Trump. They're not psychologically capable of that
There are more of us. We just need to engage and mobilize everywhere.
Why I get angry when Bsky people preach that we need to invite more people with "diverse" views to come here.....that we need people from outside our "bubble." There is NO persuading them, so there is no reason for them to be here. All we can do is outnumber them and crush them.
Literally this. There’s too much hype about the fallout from the Epstein files, but in the end (say, a week) it won’t change much, if anything.
Look at MAGA farmers and natural disaster victims who have lost, or stand to lose, everything due to Trump’s policies. Many still support him. The release, or not, of the Epstein files is of no real consequence to most MAGA. So, they will buy whatever BS Trump sells them.
Perhaps I was wrong. The fact that Trump was ratioed on his own social media platform is hopeful. The infighting is picking up too.
