MAGA is not a Trump Cult.
It Is Devotion to White Supremacy.
MAGA is not a cult that worships Trump. MAGA is not a devotion to Trump. It is a devotion to Whiteness and White Supremacy.
On superficial analysis, MAGA does appear to be a cult led by Trump. Just like cults, MAGAs consider Trump a messiah, There is even a popular MAGA drawing of Trump dying at the cross a la Jesus Christ. Just like cult members, Trump supporters love anyone Trump loves and hate anyone he hates. Like cult members, MAGAs have us-vs-them mentality. Like cults, MAGAs believe their leader-Trump- is the only one that could save the world from the evil degenerates trying to destroy it.
But when you look deep, you realize MAGA is not a cult. It is a devotion to White Supremacy and racism. Cults worship their leaders unconditionally. Whereas, MAGAs love Trump on the condition that he remains unabashedly and unapologetically racist.
Trump supporters love t him because he says all the racist and bigots things they are afraid to say. They admire him for never backing down on his racism. They love that his whole platform is centered on Whiteness. They love that he acknowledges their White anger. They support him because he is xenophobic. They worship him because he is openly Islamophobic. Their support for Trump is not unconditional at all. Their support is conditioned on his continued upholding of White supremacy. And that is why the MAGA movement is not a cult of personality. It is a devotion to White supremacy.
If Trump stopped being racist tomorrow, he would lose most of his supporters. If Trump stopped fanning White angst tomorrow, his MAGA supporters would abandon him. If tomorrow Trump genuinely became an advocate for racial equality, the MAGAs would turn against him. That is not what cults do. In cults, when the leader changes his view on a certain topic, the followers do as well.
In fact, Trump supporters are more like devoted sport fans than cult members. Sport fans would adore and support an athlete as long as that athlete plays for the fans’ favorite team. As soon as the athlete leaves that team, the fans turn against him. That is how Trump supporters are. They support Trump as long as he is in Team Whiteness. If he left that team, they would abandon him and even start attacking him.
I also hate “MAGA is cult” trope because it paints Trump supporters as victims instead of perpetrators of White supremacy violence. Calling MAGAs cult paints them as desperate people who join the cult in search of hope. In reality, MAGAs are not desperate people. They are bigots who want to reverse the gains of the Civil Rights Movement. They are violent bigots who went as far as storming the Capitol to stop Black and Brown people’s votes from being counted.
MAGAs are not a cult. It is a racist movement.
