Are there previous historical examples of cult-like followings of US political candidates?
Are there previous historical examples of cult-like followings of US political candidates?
(This post was intended for politics@lemmy.world, but as it seems they don't allow text posts, I'm posting it here)
This post will likely not go over well with everyone and some people may not agree with the premise of the question. Mods please remove if not allowed.
I am curious if the MAGA-esque approach to politics is new for the US, or if there have been other examples of similar political movements which may be considered "cult-like". To better define what I mean, here are some examples:
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Large amounts of signs bearing a candidate's name being shown by single individuals (e.g. big trucks covered in Trump signs everywhere)
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Use of a candidate name over the US flag
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Use of a kind of supporter uniform (e.g. the red MAGA hat)
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The "alternative facts" of MAGA, where debate can be impossible because supporters believe anyone who is a detractor must be lying
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In some cases, voter intimidation or coercion from staunch supporters
It seems to me that some of this is new but I'd love to hear other thoughts. I have heard and seen many relatively obvious parallels to German politics in the 20s-40s, but I'm specifically wondering if anything similar has ever been seen in the US before.
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Other posters have already come up with Huey Long, Charles Coughlin, Joe McCarthy, Lyndon LaRouche...
No American Presidential candidate before Trump has been so widely popular whilst also having a cult following of people who basically believe in an entirely different reality whilst also being so brash and brazen about it.
There have been demagogues before, with cultish followings, but they've not been anywhere near as popular as Trump.
To attempt to add a few:
Technically, Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, attempted to run for President back when Mormons were basically what we would now call a domestic terrorist group, and when most non Mormons viewed them as a dangerous cult.
He was assassinated by a mob, who stormed the jail he was in whilst awaiting trial for treason and other charges, before the election took place.
Also, you might be able to consider the fairly brief existence of the Anti-Masonic party at least somewhat akin to the living in a totally different reality attribute of MAGA people.
Basically, following the inciting incident of the Morgan Affair, where a William Morgan was apparently planning to publish a book outlining the evils of a Freemason conspiracy to control government and business in the US, but he was jailed, a bit of a circus trial ensued, and then he disappeared.
The Anti Masonic party was the US's first third-party and basically it was built off of what we'd now call conspiracy theories stemming from the Morgan Affair, and called for Masons to renounce their fraternity or to be uprooted from positions of prominence.
Much like the modern MAGA movement, it was full of highly religious conspiracy theorists, but it didn't really coalesce into also being a cult of personality around any of their more prominent members the way such reverence exists for Trump.
There have been demagogues before, with cultish followings, but they've not been anywhere near as popular as Trump.
This is pretty much where I was coming from with the post. It seems like a new thing to have something so culty be so popular in the US.
Thanks for these. Joseph Smith in particular is an interesting example. I didn't know he attempted to run for President at one time. On the Mormon side, I find it quite interesting that his religion still exists despite him being outed as a charlatan. I guess that also says something about human nature.
I find it quite interesting that his religion still exists despite him being outed as a charlatan.
The resilience of obviously garbage beliefs among people who are manifestly not stupid is a mystery worth solving.
It's not a great mystery, these are people raised in a Fox News propaganda bubble. Their reality is based on lies.
The problem is much bigger than Fox News, the MAGA Republicans, or the United States.
Yes, I'm sure that Fox News explains the endurance Joseph Smith's religion.
Lyndon LaRouche
LOL oh man I have not thought about that fool in years... I would spit on the ground when I would walk by those fools. There was a lot of them in Seattle. One time a guy took offense on me looking him in the eye and then spitting at his feet. Since I lived in the neighborhood I went home and grabbed a couple eggs and tossed them at their booth. Good times!
I was born and raised in the PNW and first saw the LaRouchies at the UW, with a large display of Obama with a Hitler mustache... though I did not spit at them lol.
I was living downtown in Seattle and they were always near the market bothering people. They would setup their little booths right on the sidewalk and force people to walk around them. When they would try to talk to me is when I would just spit at their feet. I probably fit the street punk look and they would talk shit at me so I escalated it that one time. The Obama Hitler shit just enraged me
Interesting enough, Morgan’s widow became one of Joseph Smith’s plural wives. It’s a small country.