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The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control
One of America’s leading experts in cults and mind-control provides an eye-opening analysis of Trump and the indoctrination tactics he uses to build a fanatical devotion in his supporters.
Over the past two years, Trump’s behavior has become both more disturbing and yet increasingly familiar. He relies on phrases like, “fake news,” “build the wall,” and continues to spread the divisive mentality of us-vs.-them. He lies constantly, has no conscience, never admits when he is wrong, and projects all of his shortcomings on to others. He has become more authoritarian, more outrageous, and yet many of his followers remain blindly devoted. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert and a major Trump supporter, calls him one of the most persuasive people living. His need to squash alternate information and his insistence of constant ego stroking are all characteristics of other famous leaders— cult leaders.
In The Cult of Trump, mind-control and licensed mental health expert Steven Hassan draws parallels between our current president and people like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Ron Hubbard and Sun Myung Moon, arguing that this presidency is in many ways like a destructive cult. He specifically details the ways in which people are influenced through an array of social psychology methods and how they become fiercely loyal and obedient. Hassan was a former “Moonie” himself, and he draws on his forty years of personal and professional experience studying hypnosis and destructive cults, working as a deprogrammer, and a strategic communications interventionist. He emphasizes why it’s crucial that we recognize ways to identify and protect ourselves and our loved ones.
The Cult of Trump is an accessible and in-depth analysis of the president, showing that under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas. Hassan’s book is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the Trump phenomenon and looking for a way forward.
Over the past two years, Trump’s behavior has become both more disturbing and yet increasingly familiar. He relies on phrases like, “fake news,” “build the wall,” and continues to spread the divisive mentality of us-vs.-them. He lies constantly, has no conscience, never admits when he is wrong, and projects all of his shortcomings on to others. He has become more authoritarian, more outrageous, and yet many of his followers remain blindly devoted. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert and a major Trump supporter, calls him one of the most persuasive people living. His need to squash alternate information and his insistence of constant ego stroking are all characteristics of other famous leaders— cult leaders.
In The Cult of Trump, mind-control and licensed mental health expert Steven Hassan draws parallels between our current president and people like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Ron Hubbard and Sun Myung Moon, arguing that this presidency is in many ways like a destructive cult. He specifically details the ways in which people are influenced through an array of social psychology methods and how they become fiercely loyal and obedient. Hassan was a former “Moonie” himself, and he draws on his forty years of personal and professional experience studying hypnosis and destructive cults, working as a deprogrammer, and a strategic communications interventionist. He emphasizes why it’s crucial that we recognize ways to identify and protect ourselves and our loved ones.
The Cult of Trump is an accessible and in-depth analysis of the president, showing that under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas. Hassan’s book is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the Trump phenomenon and looking for a way forward.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 15, 2019
About the author
Steven Hassan
9 books280 followersDr. Steven Hassan is one of the world's foremost experts on undue influence. Licensed mental health counselor and an exit counselor. Hassan was an early advocate of exit counseling, and is the author of two books on the subject of "cults", and what he describes as their use of mind control, thought reform, and the psychology of influence in order to recruit and retain members.
Himself a former member of the Unification Church, after spending one year assisting with involuntary deprogrammings, he developed what he describes as his own non-coercive methods for helping members of alleged cults to leave their groups, and developed therapeutic approaches for counseling former members in order to help them overcome the purported effects of cult membership.
Himself a former member of the Unification Church, after spending one year assisting with involuntary deprogrammings, he developed what he describes as his own non-coercive methods for helping members of alleged cults to leave their groups, and developed therapeutic approaches for counseling former members in order to help them overcome the purported effects of cult membership.
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October 28, 2023
Trump redux....
=======
Given what we've seen of Trump since this was posted, it's become more obvious to me that this nailed it.
The other is Mary Trump's book (see link below)
===================
“Just remember— what you are seeing and what you are reading is not what’s happening.”
-Trump
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
-Orwell, 1984
==============
"What good fortune for those in power that people do not think."
- HITLER
===============
I read this book because of my sister.
I am a skeptic who belongs to no party. My parents always said to vote for the best person, not the party. I am crystal clear who the best person is this year.
My sister lives in Reno, I live in Berkeley. I usually see her once a year when her son’s family hosts Thanksgiving in Reno. Understandably, that’s been called off this year.
But my sister and I were staying in touch via email. To my consternation she started sending messages and links about conspiracy theories, you know like the one about how Ghislaine Maxwell‘s sister was conspiring with Hillary Clinton to run an international sex slave ring out of Haiti funded by George Soros.
This behavior was something new. Given that my family was conservative, it’s no surprise my older sister has been a long-time watcher of Fox News, but was never insistent about sharing their propaganda.
I attempted to fact check what she sent to me and it was a big zero. When I asked her to provide corroboration, she couldn’t. I stayed calm and tried to stick to facts in my responses. As you might imagine, this did not work. She claimed that even my short allusions to history were merely deflection.
The longer I did not concede the veracity of her beliefs the more heated she became. She escalated to downright mean and rude and stayed on that plane thereafter. Whoa. What happened? This was not he person I knew all these years.
[NOTE: my sister died 3 weeks ago from the very cancer she denied could kill here]
In the midst of this, I came upon the book “The Cult of Trump.” The author got sucked into the Moonies (Unification Church) when he went off to college and was with them for almost three years. He moved up in the organization and saw Sun Myung Moon in action, up close. Once he escaped, the author became a licensed therapist, specializing in cults.
I had a lot of contact myself with cult people in the streets surrounding UC Berkeley when I was there for college in the late 70’s. An institute was founded near campus that published information on what cults were and specifics on individual cults (Moonies, Hare Krishna, Divine Light Mission, The Way, etc.). I read all of it.
With my sister’s persistent nasty behavior, I remembered that the most common and powerful indicator of cult adherence was radical personality change. She had gone from mildly annoying to attacking me as if I were the enemy. As this year wore on, my sister became increasingly frightened that Trump might not be re-elected. She told me she would be “sick to her stomach” if he lost. Her stridency increased.
How did this happen?
“The Cult of Trump” helped me answer that question.
For one thing, all those years of watching Fox News had softened my sister up to be more receptive to even greater extremes. She was spouting QAnon conspiracies without even knowing where they came from.
If one uses the word “cult,” people tend to think of Jonestown or, more recently “Wild, Wild Country” as depicted on Netflix. However, not surprisingly, the main locale of cults in the U.S these days is online, on the Web, not in communes. It’s probably no accident that with Covid, my sister had become increasingly isolated with her social media, on it for hours at a time, in her little cocoon.
Meanwhile, if you encounter a cult member in person, they’re unlikely to be wearing a saffron robe. As the author says: “Most people involved in destructive cults today dress like you or me, and many work regular jobs. Nor are they necessarily religious.”
Since Trump was elected, our society has reminded me more of the 70’s. The author observes that cults proliferate when a society is undergoing rapid change and particularly when there is a breakdown in trust between people and major institutions. Yes, just like Nixon and the 70’s.
And Trump fits the bill of a political cult leader. He promises many things, that people want to believe, but he will never actually deliver.
He’s a fear-monger spouting real or imagined threats that are designed to override people’s sense of personal agency and in turn make them more compliant and obedient. This makes them susceptible to a confident authority figure who promises to keep them safe.
The Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels said: “A lie once told remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.”
Trump does this over and over, presenting followers with what Kellyanne Conway called “alternative facts”
These demagogues also need an evil one, an “other” to demonize.
As Eric Hoffer wrote in The True Believer: “Followers of mass movements need not believe in a god, but they must believe in a devil. Hatred and fear always unify believers against a common enemy.”
When critics fingered fake news from Russia, Trump co-opted the term. He and his minions warn their followers to stay away from anything critical of Trump. You must stick to approved sources, such as Fox News and Breitbart.
I ran into this over and over with my sister. I read numerous, books, magazines, newspapers, for information and facts. I don’t have a favorite. But it didn’t matter what I cited, it was rejected without her even reading it because it did not fit into the circular thinking pattern my sister gets from her sources. It’s as if she had a mini-North Korea in her brain, 24-7.
======================
Why Trump followers see themselves in Trump....
https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2018/septe...
=============
“Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous - to poetry. But also, it gives birth to the opposite: to the perverse, the illicit, the absurd.”
― Thomas Mann
=======================
"The most favorable moment to seize a man and influence him is when he is alone in the mass; it is at this point that propaganda can be most effective. This is the situation of the 'lonely crowd,' or of isolation in the mass, which is a natural product of modern-day society, which is both used and deepened by the mass media."
-Jacque Ellul, Propaganda
====
When the World Looks Like One Big Conspiracy
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/op...
=============
Why Evangelicals are suckers for Qanon...
and why it's the ugly return of medieval anti-Semitism
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/...
============
update....
What we are seeing here today....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...
-------------
Mary Trump's book....
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
=======
Given what we've seen of Trump since this was posted, it's become more obvious to me that this nailed it.
The other is Mary Trump's book (see link below)
===================
“Just remember— what you are seeing and what you are reading is not what’s happening.”
-Trump
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
-Orwell, 1984
==============
"What good fortune for those in power that people do not think."
- HITLER
===============
I read this book because of my sister.
I am a skeptic who belongs to no party. My parents always said to vote for the best person, not the party. I am crystal clear who the best person is this year.
My sister lives in Reno, I live in Berkeley. I usually see her once a year when her son’s family hosts Thanksgiving in Reno. Understandably, that’s been called off this year.
But my sister and I were staying in touch via email. To my consternation she started sending messages and links about conspiracy theories, you know like the one about how Ghislaine Maxwell‘s sister was conspiring with Hillary Clinton to run an international sex slave ring out of Haiti funded by George Soros.
This behavior was something new. Given that my family was conservative, it’s no surprise my older sister has been a long-time watcher of Fox News, but was never insistent about sharing their propaganda.
I attempted to fact check what she sent to me and it was a big zero. When I asked her to provide corroboration, she couldn’t. I stayed calm and tried to stick to facts in my responses. As you might imagine, this did not work. She claimed that even my short allusions to history were merely deflection.
The longer I did not concede the veracity of her beliefs the more heated she became. She escalated to downright mean and rude and stayed on that plane thereafter. Whoa. What happened? This was not he person I knew all these years.
[NOTE: my sister died 3 weeks ago from the very cancer she denied could kill here]
In the midst of this, I came upon the book “The Cult of Trump.” The author got sucked into the Moonies (Unification Church) when he went off to college and was with them for almost three years. He moved up in the organization and saw Sun Myung Moon in action, up close. Once he escaped, the author became a licensed therapist, specializing in cults.
I had a lot of contact myself with cult people in the streets surrounding UC Berkeley when I was there for college in the late 70’s. An institute was founded near campus that published information on what cults were and specifics on individual cults (Moonies, Hare Krishna, Divine Light Mission, The Way, etc.). I read all of it.
With my sister’s persistent nasty behavior, I remembered that the most common and powerful indicator of cult adherence was radical personality change. She had gone from mildly annoying to attacking me as if I were the enemy. As this year wore on, my sister became increasingly frightened that Trump might not be re-elected. She told me she would be “sick to her stomach” if he lost. Her stridency increased.
How did this happen?
“The Cult of Trump” helped me answer that question.
For one thing, all those years of watching Fox News had softened my sister up to be more receptive to even greater extremes. She was spouting QAnon conspiracies without even knowing where they came from.
If one uses the word “cult,” people tend to think of Jonestown or, more recently “Wild, Wild Country” as depicted on Netflix. However, not surprisingly, the main locale of cults in the U.S these days is online, on the Web, not in communes. It’s probably no accident that with Covid, my sister had become increasingly isolated with her social media, on it for hours at a time, in her little cocoon.
Meanwhile, if you encounter a cult member in person, they’re unlikely to be wearing a saffron robe. As the author says: “Most people involved in destructive cults today dress like you or me, and many work regular jobs. Nor are they necessarily religious.”
Since Trump was elected, our society has reminded me more of the 70’s. The author observes that cults proliferate when a society is undergoing rapid change and particularly when there is a breakdown in trust between people and major institutions. Yes, just like Nixon and the 70’s.
And Trump fits the bill of a political cult leader. He promises many things, that people want to believe, but he will never actually deliver.
He’s a fear-monger spouting real or imagined threats that are designed to override people’s sense of personal agency and in turn make them more compliant and obedient. This makes them susceptible to a confident authority figure who promises to keep them safe.
The Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels said: “A lie once told remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.”
Trump does this over and over, presenting followers with what Kellyanne Conway called “alternative facts”
These demagogues also need an evil one, an “other” to demonize.
As Eric Hoffer wrote in The True Believer: “Followers of mass movements need not believe in a god, but they must believe in a devil. Hatred and fear always unify believers against a common enemy.”
When critics fingered fake news from Russia, Trump co-opted the term. He and his minions warn their followers to stay away from anything critical of Trump. You must stick to approved sources, such as Fox News and Breitbart.
I ran into this over and over with my sister. I read numerous, books, magazines, newspapers, for information and facts. I don’t have a favorite. But it didn’t matter what I cited, it was rejected without her even reading it because it did not fit into the circular thinking pattern my sister gets from her sources. It’s as if she had a mini-North Korea in her brain, 24-7.
======================
Why Trump followers see themselves in Trump....
https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2018/septe...
=============
“Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous - to poetry. But also, it gives birth to the opposite: to the perverse, the illicit, the absurd.”
― Thomas Mann
=======================
"The most favorable moment to seize a man and influence him is when he is alone in the mass; it is at this point that propaganda can be most effective. This is the situation of the 'lonely crowd,' or of isolation in the mass, which is a natural product of modern-day society, which is both used and deepened by the mass media."
-Jacque Ellul, Propaganda
====
When the World Looks Like One Big Conspiracy
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/op...
=============
Why Evangelicals are suckers for Qanon...
and why it's the ugly return of medieval anti-Semitism
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/...
============
update....
What we are seeing here today....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...
-------------
Mary Trump's book....
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 2, 2020
I've despised Trump for a long time and loved Steve Hassan even longer, so it's no wonder I enjoyed this book. Hassan is a former member of the Moonies (aka The Unification Church), and since leaving, he has spent his entire career academically codifying theories of undue influence. He also helps people leave high-control groups, and helps family members speak to their loved ones still ensnared in such a group's grasp.
If you're very informed on the basics of cults, including the sociological study thereof, there will be a fair amount here of world-setting that you don't need and will find yourself breezing through. Nevertheless, I didn't entirely skip these parts as they were well-written and brought in examples I hadn't heard expressed in such a way, before.
The (soy) meat of the book is really at the end, when he gets to how we (the people outside a cult) should talk to the people inside of one (whether it's Trump's, or anyone else's). I would say the central message is that people can smell it when you don't respect them, and so you have to genuinely get to a place where you understand where they're coming from, before you can try to adjust their point of view. It requires a level of empathy that can feel gross and enabling, but it isn't... it's actually the only way forward, as far as I'm concerned. (I say this as someone in an adjacent field to Hassan's; I report on fringe groups.)
Definitely worth a read, especially if you have loved ones who are won over by Trump, and with whom you still desire to have a relationship and perhaps some influence. Cutting them off will only entrench their views. Cults, by definition, think they have special knowledge, available only to a select few. Treat that "truth" as unfathomable, and all you've done is reinforced their sense of being singularly aware.
If you're very informed on the basics of cults, including the sociological study thereof, there will be a fair amount here of world-setting that you don't need and will find yourself breezing through. Nevertheless, I didn't entirely skip these parts as they were well-written and brought in examples I hadn't heard expressed in such a way, before.
The (soy) meat of the book is really at the end, when he gets to how we (the people outside a cult) should talk to the people inside of one (whether it's Trump's, or anyone else's). I would say the central message is that people can smell it when you don't respect them, and so you have to genuinely get to a place where you understand where they're coming from, before you can try to adjust their point of view. It requires a level of empathy that can feel gross and enabling, but it isn't... it's actually the only way forward, as far as I'm concerned. (I say this as someone in an adjacent field to Hassan's; I report on fringe groups.)
Definitely worth a read, especially if you have loved ones who are won over by Trump, and with whom you still desire to have a relationship and perhaps some influence. Cutting them off will only entrench their views. Cults, by definition, think they have special knowledge, available only to a select few. Treat that "truth" as unfathomable, and all you've done is reinforced their sense of being singularly aware.
August 24, 2020
Eye-opening. I extricated myself from a cult about twenty years ago but did not recognize it as one until I read this book. (After leaving I had called it a toxic religion.) This book is easy to follow and broadened my understanding of mind control, thought stopping, us-versus-them thinking, and high-demand groups. "It is a devastating moment to realize that you have given your life to a false leader, prophet, or messiah." Even when that moment comes many years after leaving. I'm still alarmed about what lies ahead for our country but now I understand better what is going on and why it feels all too familiar to me.
November 1, 2020
Steven Hassan spent years in Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church (you might remember them as "the Moonies"). After deprogramming from that cult, he was inspired to study high-pressure groups and help others find autonomy. In The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control, Hassan points to cultic elements in Donald Trump's political rise, messaging, administration, and relationship with his base. Drawing on psychological literature and cult studies, as well as illustrative stories from Scientology, NXIVM, the Moonies, the People's Temple, the Manson Family and numerous other groups, Hassan argues that Trump's following has taken a form that may not be new to politics but is alarming to see these United States. The most unfortunate element of the book is its title, which comes off as hyperbolic and special-made to turn away those who could benefit most: Trump's supporters. I suspect Hassan lost a battle on that one. The book itself is not as hardline as its cover, and it speaks elegantly to the importance of patience, respect and kindness in conversations with the converted. Tather than handing this book to the Fox News viewers in your life, you might have to read it for them and navigate the deprogramming on your own.
Some of the cult-like signs are hard to miss: Trump's blatant and repeated lies ("Mexico will pay for it"), the malignant narcissism ("How handsome am I, right? How handsome"), the overconfidence ("Only I can fix this"), the targeting and blaming of outsiders, the vilifying of the press ("FAKE NEWS", "enemy of the people"), the infatuation with authoritarians, the demands for praise and loyalty, the inability to admit a mistake or loss, the iconic and divisive red MAGA hat, the derisive nicknames (Crooked Hillary, Lying Ted, Crazy Bernie), the mob-boss-like use of plausibly deniable language ("Some people are saying"), and the group chants of "lock her up" and "build the wall". Hassan unpacks these, as well as subtler elements, within the framework of cult studies. He outlines five types of cults: religious cults (the most common), political cults, psychotherapy/education cults, commercial cults (think MLMs), and personality cults. This is clearly political, but manages to incorporate elements of the other types. The structure of Trumpism is represented as a pyramid, with Trump and Pence at the top, his family and staff next, followed in succession by cabinet/congress/justices, the Republican party, and hardcore supporters. Information flows in from financial and political interests as well as the religious right, and flows out through tweet and the mainstream media. There are various other checklists and insightful models, but Hassan's preferred framework is the BITE model, which categorizes cults in the ways they control Behavior, Information, Thoughts and Emotion.
Behavioral controls attested to by former members of Trump's inner circle include rewards and punishment, discouragement of individualism, groupthink, rigid rules and regulations, punishment for disobedience, threats to cut off family and friends, and the instilling of dependency and obedience. Information control elements include deception, deliberate withholding of information, distortion of information to make it more acceptable, systematic lying to members, minimizing access to critical commentary or former members, tracking communication and internet access, leadership control of information flow, encouragement of spying on other members, and extensive use of propaganda and misquotation. Thought control is expressed in black and white or good versus evil thinking, a forced map of reality, organizing people into insiders versus outsiders, loaded language and clichés to stop critical thoughts, reducing complexities into buzzwords, rejecting rational analysis or constructive criticism, forbidding critical questions about the leader or policy, and labeling alternative beliefs as illegitimate or evil. Emotional control manifests in techniques to block anger or doubt, making members blame themselves for problems, promoting feelings of guilt or unworthiness, instilling fear, manipulated emotional highs and lows through alternated praise and put-downs, and the fear of leaving.
There's a lot more here and it's hard to summarize. One of the hallmarks of Trump's presidency is the breakneck pace of broken norms and scandals: things that would individually wreck any other politician's career, but come so fast that one struggles to remember them. Hassan draws from these to illustrate his points, and it makes for an excruciating walk down memory lane. This was published in early 2019, long before the COVID-19 pandemic and so much else that has happened since, but Hassan correctly prophecied: "This book needed to be finalized, but I trust there will be many more revelations coming out about the Trump White House before it appears in book stores." Parallels are also made to people like L. Ron Hubbard and Reverend Moon. The fascinating thing is that Trump need not have studied their actions: Trumpism may simply be a consequence of his rare and damaged psychology. Hassan addresses Trump's influences (e.g. Norman Vincent Peale and Roy Cohn) and enablers (e.g. Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh) as well. One small criticism I'd level is that the author seems to overestimate the effects of mind control, hypnotism and trance in a way that suggests metaphysical powers that the science doesn't justify. However, I don't think any of that detracted from his conclusions about the effects of Trump's behavior.
The Cult of Trump provides an insightful window into our divided political landscape and a relevant contribution to what will be an ongoing effort to restore unity and understand this horrific assult on American democracy. I write this days before the 2020 election, which I am hoping beyond hope will mark the end of Trump's presidency. Even when Trump is gone, it will be important for us to know exactly what happened and where the system failed. We'll have to pick up the pieces and build a foundation of education and trust to ensure no autocrat or "mind controller" can ever do this again.
Some of the cult-like signs are hard to miss: Trump's blatant and repeated lies ("Mexico will pay for it"), the malignant narcissism ("How handsome am I, right? How handsome"), the overconfidence ("Only I can fix this"), the targeting and blaming of outsiders, the vilifying of the press ("FAKE NEWS", "enemy of the people"), the infatuation with authoritarians, the demands for praise and loyalty, the inability to admit a mistake or loss, the iconic and divisive red MAGA hat, the derisive nicknames (Crooked Hillary, Lying Ted, Crazy Bernie), the mob-boss-like use of plausibly deniable language ("Some people are saying"), and the group chants of "lock her up" and "build the wall". Hassan unpacks these, as well as subtler elements, within the framework of cult studies. He outlines five types of cults: religious cults (the most common), political cults, psychotherapy/education cults, commercial cults (think MLMs), and personality cults. This is clearly political, but manages to incorporate elements of the other types. The structure of Trumpism is represented as a pyramid, with Trump and Pence at the top, his family and staff next, followed in succession by cabinet/congress/justices, the Republican party, and hardcore supporters. Information flows in from financial and political interests as well as the religious right, and flows out through tweet and the mainstream media. There are various other checklists and insightful models, but Hassan's preferred framework is the BITE model, which categorizes cults in the ways they control Behavior, Information, Thoughts and Emotion.
Behavioral controls attested to by former members of Trump's inner circle include rewards and punishment, discouragement of individualism, groupthink, rigid rules and regulations, punishment for disobedience, threats to cut off family and friends, and the instilling of dependency and obedience. Information control elements include deception, deliberate withholding of information, distortion of information to make it more acceptable, systematic lying to members, minimizing access to critical commentary or former members, tracking communication and internet access, leadership control of information flow, encouragement of spying on other members, and extensive use of propaganda and misquotation. Thought control is expressed in black and white or good versus evil thinking, a forced map of reality, organizing people into insiders versus outsiders, loaded language and clichés to stop critical thoughts, reducing complexities into buzzwords, rejecting rational analysis or constructive criticism, forbidding critical questions about the leader or policy, and labeling alternative beliefs as illegitimate or evil. Emotional control manifests in techniques to block anger or doubt, making members blame themselves for problems, promoting feelings of guilt or unworthiness, instilling fear, manipulated emotional highs and lows through alternated praise and put-downs, and the fear of leaving.
There's a lot more here and it's hard to summarize. One of the hallmarks of Trump's presidency is the breakneck pace of broken norms and scandals: things that would individually wreck any other politician's career, but come so fast that one struggles to remember them. Hassan draws from these to illustrate his points, and it makes for an excruciating walk down memory lane. This was published in early 2019, long before the COVID-19 pandemic and so much else that has happened since, but Hassan correctly prophecied: "This book needed to be finalized, but I trust there will be many more revelations coming out about the Trump White House before it appears in book stores." Parallels are also made to people like L. Ron Hubbard and Reverend Moon. The fascinating thing is that Trump need not have studied their actions: Trumpism may simply be a consequence of his rare and damaged psychology. Hassan addresses Trump's influences (e.g. Norman Vincent Peale and Roy Cohn) and enablers (e.g. Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh) as well. One small criticism I'd level is that the author seems to overestimate the effects of mind control, hypnotism and trance in a way that suggests metaphysical powers that the science doesn't justify. However, I don't think any of that detracted from his conclusions about the effects of Trump's behavior.
The Cult of Trump provides an insightful window into our divided political landscape and a relevant contribution to what will be an ongoing effort to restore unity and understand this horrific assult on American democracy. I write this days before the 2020 election, which I am hoping beyond hope will mark the end of Trump's presidency. Even when Trump is gone, it will be important for us to know exactly what happened and where the system failed. We'll have to pick up the pieces and build a foundation of education and trust to ensure no autocrat or "mind controller" can ever do this again.
July 7, 2024
The prospective reader of The Cult of Trump should realize that this book focuses specifically on the psychological characteristics of the Trump fanatics. These are the people that go to Trump rallies dressed in Trump garb and waving Trump flags. They profess their admiration and love to a man who promises favored status for their loyalty and dedication. They defend Trump to the point of stupidity without knowing that their defense is nonsensical. These are the loyalists, the cult members.
Of the 74,000,000 people that voted for Trump in 2020, however, how many are in fact these cult worshippers? In my estimation, they probably comprise an ineffective component of the whole. On January 6, 2021, for instance, only a relative handful showed up for a mindless assault on our nation’s Capital. If they were the only source of Trump’s political power, then Trump would not be a concern. As such, the relevancy of this book as it pertains to the greater Trump phenomenon is not that meaningful.
One benefit of this book’s narrow focus was that it brought about my realization that the Trump voters that I know are not cult members. They are simple and single-minded people. They don’t want to consider the various perspectives to complicated problems because life is simpler that way. They are people who have no desire to look beyond their established set of beliefs, which were tantalizingly stimulated by Trump’s messaging. It is my perspective that these people represent a more significant portion of the 74,000,000 Trump votes cast in 2020.
Beyond the Trump fanatics and the simple minded Trump voters there are other contributors to the Trump phenomenon. The most prominent and inclusive is the Republican Party. The Party has traditionally been comprised of a consolidation of various cults or cult-like groups that have routinely circulated below the Republican umbrella. When Trump came to light and offered each of these groups their own political miracles, the leaders of these groups aligned their members under Trump’s influence. The Republican banner has in one hand continuously promoted ignorance, racism, and sexism, so that capitalism can thrive in the other.
Therefore, The Cult of Trump is a book that inadvertently overemphasizes a small aspect of the larger Trump problem. There are indeed Trump fanatics that have been indoctrinated into a cult organization. And for them and their families, this book is a credible source for help. But this book glosses over the greater realities of Trump’s emergence without directly addressing those realities.
Of the 74,000,000 people that voted for Trump in 2020, however, how many are in fact these cult worshippers? In my estimation, they probably comprise an ineffective component of the whole. On January 6, 2021, for instance, only a relative handful showed up for a mindless assault on our nation’s Capital. If they were the only source of Trump’s political power, then Trump would not be a concern. As such, the relevancy of this book as it pertains to the greater Trump phenomenon is not that meaningful.
One benefit of this book’s narrow focus was that it brought about my realization that the Trump voters that I know are not cult members. They are simple and single-minded people. They don’t want to consider the various perspectives to complicated problems because life is simpler that way. They are people who have no desire to look beyond their established set of beliefs, which were tantalizingly stimulated by Trump’s messaging. It is my perspective that these people represent a more significant portion of the 74,000,000 Trump votes cast in 2020.
Beyond the Trump fanatics and the simple minded Trump voters there are other contributors to the Trump phenomenon. The most prominent and inclusive is the Republican Party. The Party has traditionally been comprised of a consolidation of various cults or cult-like groups that have routinely circulated below the Republican umbrella. When Trump came to light and offered each of these groups their own political miracles, the leaders of these groups aligned their members under Trump’s influence. The Republican banner has in one hand continuously promoted ignorance, racism, and sexism, so that capitalism can thrive in the other.
Therefore, The Cult of Trump is a book that inadvertently overemphasizes a small aspect of the larger Trump problem. There are indeed Trump fanatics that have been indoctrinated into a cult organization. And for them and their families, this book is a credible source for help. But this book glosses over the greater realities of Trump’s emergence without directly addressing those realities.
April 12, 2020
The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the
President Uses Mind Control
By Steven Hassan
It has been my great misfortune to see Donald Trump become the leader of a country. His election has brought to light many of the barely-subcutaneous ills that make up the true story of the United States. It was with trepidation that I picked up this book but I realized that after his election campaign and subsequent reign I was starting to get inured to the hourly race to the bottom he is engaged in. This book gave me a window into the people who venerate him. I share demographic qualities with most of those people – but my philosophy of life could not be more opposite. I could go on but I will spare you.
In a previous review I mentioned my adopted Kindle, and this is where I came across this book as well. This book helped me in a couple of ways. First, it was a primer on the concepts of brainwashing. Second, it served as a solid introduction to concepts of Abnormal Psychology.
The primer on the concepts of brainwashing explains how ordinary people can become the victims of cults. The author introduces the reader to the BITE model. This refers to the four things that cult leaders (like Jim Jones or David Koresh) use to ensure the unquestioning loyalty that would have hundreds (or millions) walking into certain death while praising their chosen one. BITE is the acronym that stands for Behavior, Information, Thought and Emotion. So a cult leader would ensure that its members conformed to certain proscribed behavior – such as wearing uniform clothing for example. Other types of behavior might be encouraged, such as physical assault or verbal bullying of people who dare to speak out against the cult leader.
In addition, information that members of a cult would receive would come from the leader while all other information would be deemed suspicious or unreliable – such as referring to every fact contrary to one’s position as “fake news”. This is why Trump’s followers believe everything that comes from him. The author gives historical context: ““A lie once told remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth,” the infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels memorably claimed. Lies used to cost politicians their careers but are now a common tactic for winning elections. In Trump’s world, they are standard operating procedure.” (Location 1001)
In addition, “Trump was aided by a vast and mutually supportive right-wing media machine—notably news programming like Fox, Breitbart, Sinclair, Nexstar, Trinity Broadcasting Network, and many others. He has also been helped by internet trolls, social media manipulators, and even—as has been shown by numerous federal investigations—by agents of the Russian government.” (Location 134) Even much of the “non-right-wing” media (if they exist) refuses to call a lie a lie. They will use all manner of euphemisms to block any true revelation of Trump’s lying – bad for ratings, bad for business, bad for shareholders. By the way, also bad for the public – but corporate media does not serve the public interest – they serve the Board of Directors and CEO.
Thought policing is critical to a cult, and Mr. Hassan gives numerous examples of the ways cults engage in this. The cults strongly discourage one from thinking for oneself or contradicting the leader of the cult. An example of how this is accomplished might be through intimidation – such as the dismissal and ostracizing from the cult. Mr. Hassan is an expert on cults and he explains, “When I look at the list of thought-controlling techniques—reducing complex thoughts into clichés and platitudinous buzz words; forbidding critical questions about the leader, doctrine, or policy; labeling alternative belief systems as illegitimate or evil—it is astounding how many Trump exploits.” (Location 378) Spend just a week watching his rallies, Tweets and press conferences and you will see this too.
Finally, emotional control is essential to a cult, for example the use of emotion and hatred toward anyone who contradicts what is being espoused by the cult leader. One thing cult leaders understand is, “that human beings are social creatures who, at some level, are wired to follow leaders and powerful members of their group.” (Location 117) The cult leaders exploit this to elevate themselves. Elaborating on the control of emotions we read, “For Trump supporters, red MAGA hats or T-shirts may act as anchors. They bring about a feeling of identity and solidarity and may elicit memories of past Trump rallies. Make America Great Again is a linguistic anchor. This phrase triggers a kind of positive nostalgia and idealization of a moment in history that may never have happened—an imaginary golden age. Each person might have a different image or movie in their mind when they hear this phrase. For some people, it may have less benign associations, possibly harkening back to a time when America was a less diverse, more repressive country. They hear the phrase and may think, Make America White Again.” (Location 1773)
In addition to nostalgia, a very important emotion encouraged by Trump is fear. “The world is a scary place for Trump’s true believers—filled with migrant invaders, Muslim terrorists, the deep state, and a cabal of global elites, not to mention radical Democrats, liberal socialists, and people like Hillary Clinton and the philanthropist George Soros who want to take down our country.” (Location 3574)
In relation to the “Make America White Again” theme, many people believe the mythology of the Republican party of the past, it may seem as if they have gone into a nightmare. Mr. Hassan believed the hype about what Republican’s used to stand for. Still it is a popular mythology he relates: “Trump has not only taken over the Republican Party, he has transformed it into its own opposite: the party that used to be concerned about deficit spending but has racked up a trillion-dollar federal deficit since Trump took office. The party that was outraged when Bill Clinton lied about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky but turned a blind eye to—and maybe even believed—Trump’s thousands of lies, including about his alleged affairs with a porn star and a former Playboy playmate. The party that loved John McCain—the late great war hero and stalwart Republican senator who dared oppose Trump on health care—but said almost nothing when Trump insulted and denigrated him.” (Location 1192) The “Great Emancipator” Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and a rabid racist (a fact easily verifiable through a Google search). But American’s would have us believe that Lincoln and all the Republicans who followed were these paragons of virtue. Still, for believers of these myths, Trump must be quite a shock. Republicans have just shown that they are opportunists who will use any avenue, no matter how distasteful, to achieve power. In this case, the power they are pushing is the white power agenda. They are just doing so more openly than they did in the past.
In an ironic bow to neo-liberalism the author explains, “To paraphrase Obama, he [Trump] is the symptom of a celebrity-promoting media culture based on corporate greed, manipulation of public opinion for personal gain, and marketing by wealthy corporations and elites using every influence trick in the book to get what they want—to cut corporate taxes, boost the use of fossil fuels, and promote right-wing political and religious views. The rise of the conservative media empire has been many decades in the making and so has Trump’s Fox-inspired, Twitter-fueled bully pulpit. In its broad outlines, the Cult of Trump was taking shape long before Trump stepped into the shoes of leader.” (Location 2094) The irony is that Obama did little to stem the tide of “a celebrity-promoting media culture based on corporate greed, manipulation of public opinion for personal gain, and marketing by wealthy corporations and elites.”
Expanding a bit on the role of media and journalism Mr. Hassan shares the following: “Advertising creates perverse incentives for media companies, transforming their audience’s attention into a product. As the media companies are ultimately beholden to whoever pays them, their priority is to hold the audience’s attention above all else, with little regard for their audience’s well-being.” (Location 2324) He further explains, “Journalism cannot be an effective check on power because the very system encourages complicity with governments, corporations, and other newsworthy institutions.” (Location 2328) If an investigative journalist rocks the boat, he or she will find themselves adrift because their access will be cut off. This is why the White House press corps consistently sits by and watches while Trump lies and belittles their colleagues. Access to the liar is more important that exposing his lies or defending one’s fellow professionals.
In terms of abnormal psychology, Mr. Hassan discusses in some detail different issues such as narcissism, psychopathy, sociopathy, pathological lying and projection. He refers often to a book written by a group of scholars in the field of psychology and psychiatry about the leader of the Cult of Trump entitled, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President” by Brandy X. Lee et al. I will not be reading that book, but you may wish to, hence the reference.
We may be entering a new era, where the police state is the new ideal. In 1974 a survivor of the Italian holocaust, Primo Levi said, “fascism arises not just by military force or police intimidation but by denying and distorting information, by undermining systems of justice, by paralyzing the education system, and by spreading in myriad subtle ways nostalgia for a world where order reigned.” Hassan continues, “Levi wrote those words in 1974, but they sound all too prophetic in this era of Make America Great Again.” (3722)
I have only scratched the surface of this valuable and informative book. If you can stand to be exposed to anything more about Trump, if you want to understand more about the people who support him, I recommend this book. I consistently argue in my reviews that there can be no disposable people and the reality is that Trump’s followers cannot be disposed of. There is, however, little hope that they can be changed. The People’s Temple did not survive after Jim Jones was gone. The Branch Davidians did not survive after David Koresh was gone. Rev. Moon’s Unification Church went through a lot of turmoil and it has little of its former power since he went away. So the hope is that eventually, through the natural order of things, the pendulum will swing back.
President Uses Mind Control
By Steven Hassan
It has been my great misfortune to see Donald Trump become the leader of a country. His election has brought to light many of the barely-subcutaneous ills that make up the true story of the United States. It was with trepidation that I picked up this book but I realized that after his election campaign and subsequent reign I was starting to get inured to the hourly race to the bottom he is engaged in. This book gave me a window into the people who venerate him. I share demographic qualities with most of those people – but my philosophy of life could not be more opposite. I could go on but I will spare you.
In a previous review I mentioned my adopted Kindle, and this is where I came across this book as well. This book helped me in a couple of ways. First, it was a primer on the concepts of brainwashing. Second, it served as a solid introduction to concepts of Abnormal Psychology.
The primer on the concepts of brainwashing explains how ordinary people can become the victims of cults. The author introduces the reader to the BITE model. This refers to the four things that cult leaders (like Jim Jones or David Koresh) use to ensure the unquestioning loyalty that would have hundreds (or millions) walking into certain death while praising their chosen one. BITE is the acronym that stands for Behavior, Information, Thought and Emotion. So a cult leader would ensure that its members conformed to certain proscribed behavior – such as wearing uniform clothing for example. Other types of behavior might be encouraged, such as physical assault or verbal bullying of people who dare to speak out against the cult leader.
In addition, information that members of a cult would receive would come from the leader while all other information would be deemed suspicious or unreliable – such as referring to every fact contrary to one’s position as “fake news”. This is why Trump’s followers believe everything that comes from him. The author gives historical context: ““A lie once told remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth,” the infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels memorably claimed. Lies used to cost politicians their careers but are now a common tactic for winning elections. In Trump’s world, they are standard operating procedure.” (Location 1001)
In addition, “Trump was aided by a vast and mutually supportive right-wing media machine—notably news programming like Fox, Breitbart, Sinclair, Nexstar, Trinity Broadcasting Network, and many others. He has also been helped by internet trolls, social media manipulators, and even—as has been shown by numerous federal investigations—by agents of the Russian government.” (Location 134) Even much of the “non-right-wing” media (if they exist) refuses to call a lie a lie. They will use all manner of euphemisms to block any true revelation of Trump’s lying – bad for ratings, bad for business, bad for shareholders. By the way, also bad for the public – but corporate media does not serve the public interest – they serve the Board of Directors and CEO.
Thought policing is critical to a cult, and Mr. Hassan gives numerous examples of the ways cults engage in this. The cults strongly discourage one from thinking for oneself or contradicting the leader of the cult. An example of how this is accomplished might be through intimidation – such as the dismissal and ostracizing from the cult. Mr. Hassan is an expert on cults and he explains, “When I look at the list of thought-controlling techniques—reducing complex thoughts into clichés and platitudinous buzz words; forbidding critical questions about the leader, doctrine, or policy; labeling alternative belief systems as illegitimate or evil—it is astounding how many Trump exploits.” (Location 378) Spend just a week watching his rallies, Tweets and press conferences and you will see this too.
Finally, emotional control is essential to a cult, for example the use of emotion and hatred toward anyone who contradicts what is being espoused by the cult leader. One thing cult leaders understand is, “that human beings are social creatures who, at some level, are wired to follow leaders and powerful members of their group.” (Location 117) The cult leaders exploit this to elevate themselves. Elaborating on the control of emotions we read, “For Trump supporters, red MAGA hats or T-shirts may act as anchors. They bring about a feeling of identity and solidarity and may elicit memories of past Trump rallies. Make America Great Again is a linguistic anchor. This phrase triggers a kind of positive nostalgia and idealization of a moment in history that may never have happened—an imaginary golden age. Each person might have a different image or movie in their mind when they hear this phrase. For some people, it may have less benign associations, possibly harkening back to a time when America was a less diverse, more repressive country. They hear the phrase and may think, Make America White Again.” (Location 1773)
In addition to nostalgia, a very important emotion encouraged by Trump is fear. “The world is a scary place for Trump’s true believers—filled with migrant invaders, Muslim terrorists, the deep state, and a cabal of global elites, not to mention radical Democrats, liberal socialists, and people like Hillary Clinton and the philanthropist George Soros who want to take down our country.” (Location 3574)
In relation to the “Make America White Again” theme, many people believe the mythology of the Republican party of the past, it may seem as if they have gone into a nightmare. Mr. Hassan believed the hype about what Republican’s used to stand for. Still it is a popular mythology he relates: “Trump has not only taken over the Republican Party, he has transformed it into its own opposite: the party that used to be concerned about deficit spending but has racked up a trillion-dollar federal deficit since Trump took office. The party that was outraged when Bill Clinton lied about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky but turned a blind eye to—and maybe even believed—Trump’s thousands of lies, including about his alleged affairs with a porn star and a former Playboy playmate. The party that loved John McCain—the late great war hero and stalwart Republican senator who dared oppose Trump on health care—but said almost nothing when Trump insulted and denigrated him.” (Location 1192) The “Great Emancipator” Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and a rabid racist (a fact easily verifiable through a Google search). But American’s would have us believe that Lincoln and all the Republicans who followed were these paragons of virtue. Still, for believers of these myths, Trump must be quite a shock. Republicans have just shown that they are opportunists who will use any avenue, no matter how distasteful, to achieve power. In this case, the power they are pushing is the white power agenda. They are just doing so more openly than they did in the past.
In an ironic bow to neo-liberalism the author explains, “To paraphrase Obama, he [Trump] is the symptom of a celebrity-promoting media culture based on corporate greed, manipulation of public opinion for personal gain, and marketing by wealthy corporations and elites using every influence trick in the book to get what they want—to cut corporate taxes, boost the use of fossil fuels, and promote right-wing political and religious views. The rise of the conservative media empire has been many decades in the making and so has Trump’s Fox-inspired, Twitter-fueled bully pulpit. In its broad outlines, the Cult of Trump was taking shape long before Trump stepped into the shoes of leader.” (Location 2094) The irony is that Obama did little to stem the tide of “a celebrity-promoting media culture based on corporate greed, manipulation of public opinion for personal gain, and marketing by wealthy corporations and elites.”
Expanding a bit on the role of media and journalism Mr. Hassan shares the following: “Advertising creates perverse incentives for media companies, transforming their audience’s attention into a product. As the media companies are ultimately beholden to whoever pays them, their priority is to hold the audience’s attention above all else, with little regard for their audience’s well-being.” (Location 2324) He further explains, “Journalism cannot be an effective check on power because the very system encourages complicity with governments, corporations, and other newsworthy institutions.” (Location 2328) If an investigative journalist rocks the boat, he or she will find themselves adrift because their access will be cut off. This is why the White House press corps consistently sits by and watches while Trump lies and belittles their colleagues. Access to the liar is more important that exposing his lies or defending one’s fellow professionals.
In terms of abnormal psychology, Mr. Hassan discusses in some detail different issues such as narcissism, psychopathy, sociopathy, pathological lying and projection. He refers often to a book written by a group of scholars in the field of psychology and psychiatry about the leader of the Cult of Trump entitled, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President” by Brandy X. Lee et al. I will not be reading that book, but you may wish to, hence the reference.
We may be entering a new era, where the police state is the new ideal. In 1974 a survivor of the Italian holocaust, Primo Levi said, “fascism arises not just by military force or police intimidation but by denying and distorting information, by undermining systems of justice, by paralyzing the education system, and by spreading in myriad subtle ways nostalgia for a world where order reigned.” Hassan continues, “Levi wrote those words in 1974, but they sound all too prophetic in this era of Make America Great Again.” (3722)
I have only scratched the surface of this valuable and informative book. If you can stand to be exposed to anything more about Trump, if you want to understand more about the people who support him, I recommend this book. I consistently argue in my reviews that there can be no disposable people and the reality is that Trump’s followers cannot be disposed of. There is, however, little hope that they can be changed. The People’s Temple did not survive after Jim Jones was gone. The Branch Davidians did not survive after David Koresh was gone. Rev. Moon’s Unification Church went through a lot of turmoil and it has little of its former power since he went away. So the hope is that eventually, through the natural order of things, the pendulum will swing back.
October 22, 2019
Mr. Hassan's latest book is a wise and insightful application of a lifetime of experience and research to the President Donald Trump phenomenon of social manipulation and control. He brings together a great wealth of knowledge of the techniques Trump uses over and over with enough success to result in his election as president and the retention of considerable popularity among his supporters despite persistent untruthfulness. Important and engaging stuff.
April 29, 2022
The author was described as a cult de-programmer.
What did this mean? Later I read he had a Master's
degree in counseling psychology. He estimated there
were 5000 cults in the US.
The author (SH hereafter) at age 19 was tricked into
becoming a member of the Unification church. They
called themselves "Moonies." Named after cult leader
Rev. Sun Myung Moon who turned out to be a billion-
aire arms dealer. He did mass weddings of followers
who Moon randomly paired. SH broke out of this cult
and spent the next 40+yrs helping cult victims be
restored to their true selves, w/o the pressure of cult
influence.
SH compared Pres. Trump to a cult leader who****
1) has complete control of shared info (media, digital).
Controls + re-frames the narrative to supporters.
2) creates an Us vs Them mentality
3) promotes fear & sews confusion & lies by design
4) creates enemies IE Mexicans, Muslims, Socialists
5) takes "outsider" statements out of context or
misquotes them
6) shuns, bullies or baits underlings
7) stages actions to appear spontaneous
8) sets impossible staff performance standards
9) leaves no room for alternative POVs
10) encourages group 'black and white' thinking
11) uses emotionally charged words like "deep state"
& "lock her up." Repeats the message over and over.
12) sews doubt about govt intelligence: FBI & CIA etc
& govt affiliations: NATO & trusted allies
13) convinces his followers the world is a dangerous
place only he can fix
Some bk reviewers thought SH insulted Trump supporters.
What I heard SH say: anyone of us could be vulnerable
to a cult or cult leader.
SH started to repeat himself. The best aspect IMO was
his discussion of conservative religious groups such as
NAR & Opus Dei.
Edited: to add.
What did this mean? Later I read he had a Master's
degree in counseling psychology. He estimated there
were 5000 cults in the US.
The author (SH hereafter) at age 19 was tricked into
becoming a member of the Unification church. They
called themselves "Moonies." Named after cult leader
Rev. Sun Myung Moon who turned out to be a billion-
aire arms dealer. He did mass weddings of followers
who Moon randomly paired. SH broke out of this cult
and spent the next 40+yrs helping cult victims be
restored to their true selves, w/o the pressure of cult
influence.
SH compared Pres. Trump to a cult leader who****
1) has complete control of shared info (media, digital).
Controls + re-frames the narrative to supporters.
2) creates an Us vs Them mentality
3) promotes fear & sews confusion & lies by design
4) creates enemies IE Mexicans, Muslims, Socialists
5) takes "outsider" statements out of context or
misquotes them
6) shuns, bullies or baits underlings
7) stages actions to appear spontaneous
8) sets impossible staff performance standards
9) leaves no room for alternative POVs
10) encourages group 'black and white' thinking
11) uses emotionally charged words like "deep state"
& "lock her up." Repeats the message over and over.
12) sews doubt about govt intelligence: FBI & CIA etc
& govt affiliations: NATO & trusted allies
13) convinces his followers the world is a dangerous
place only he can fix
Some bk reviewers thought SH insulted Trump supporters.
What I heard SH say: anyone of us could be vulnerable
to a cult or cult leader.
SH started to repeat himself. The best aspect IMO was
his discussion of conservative religious groups such as
NAR & Opus Dei.
Edited: to add.
October 6, 2020
I'm almost done with this so I'll write my review.
My only complaint would be that it's very non-friendly toward conservatives. I am a liberal, but I already bought this for my Mom (who is very religious and in an echochamber on Facebook), and I worry that she'll be triggered and suspicious as she reads it. I don't care if she's conservative but I want her to see that Trump is actually using people like her and using tactics similar to cults and narcissists to influence and control people. He wants to be a dictator, which is something she doesn't believe in. I think this book is really important for her to read, but he gets a lot into conservative media and groups in general. ... I suppose it's all relevant to Trump though.
I still think it's a 5-star book. It's fantastic at giving examples of how his leadership and personality can be compared with many cult leaders. I'm a former cult member from a church with a founder who had similar behavior and tendencies to lie, be promiscuous, and build unethical and illegal businesses. This stuff is not unique to Trump, and not unique to religion. Cults, movements, and unhealthy followings are happening in every corner of the world. There many techniques that are intentionally being used to influence people. It's no miracle, and it's no accident.
He has lied, cheated, bullied, and he doesn't embrace ANY Christian attributes, which is why it's so obvious that he's brainwashing people.
I really hope that a lot of people will read this book. You'll learn a lot about cults as well, which is good protection against mind control even outside the context of politics.
My only complaint would be that it's very non-friendly toward conservatives. I am a liberal, but I already bought this for my Mom (who is very religious and in an echochamber on Facebook), and I worry that she'll be triggered and suspicious as she reads it. I don't care if she's conservative but I want her to see that Trump is actually using people like her and using tactics similar to cults and narcissists to influence and control people. He wants to be a dictator, which is something she doesn't believe in. I think this book is really important for her to read, but he gets a lot into conservative media and groups in general. ... I suppose it's all relevant to Trump though.
I still think it's a 5-star book. It's fantastic at giving examples of how his leadership and personality can be compared with many cult leaders. I'm a former cult member from a church with a founder who had similar behavior and tendencies to lie, be promiscuous, and build unethical and illegal businesses. This stuff is not unique to Trump, and not unique to religion. Cults, movements, and unhealthy followings are happening in every corner of the world. There many techniques that are intentionally being used to influence people. It's no miracle, and it's no accident.
He has lied, cheated, bullied, and he doesn't embrace ANY Christian attributes, which is why it's so obvious that he's brainwashing people.
I really hope that a lot of people will read this book. You'll learn a lot about cults as well, which is good protection against mind control even outside the context of politics.
March 22, 2020
The more you read about Trump, the more you know he's not an idiot, well he is an idiot alright but he's an idiot with an well-thought plan and he knows where to hit and how to hit. I highly recommend this book, very insightful indeed.
Shelved as 'won-t-even-start-it'
October 27, 2019Oh, for fuck's sake, what's it with people writing all this trash? Subzero rating for clickbaiting the gullible.
November 13, 2019
Don’t let the title fool or dissuade you. This isn’t a ‘bash the President’ book by design. Yes, much is critical of the President and his behavioral traits, but his psychological health is on display for all to see. Moreover, his rhetorical style is far from hidden or difficult to divine. As someone who occupies the media spotlight as frequently and constantly as possible, most of the President’s means on control and persuasion are on open display. Now how different people respond and react to these personality and ‘leadership’ traits is really the topic of “The Cult of Trump.” Psychologist and recovered Moonie cult member Steven Hassan uses his vast personal and professional knowledge of cults and cult leaders to walk through the most disturbing and clearly demonstrates aspects of Donald Trump’s dangerous styles and how so many have been ‘captured’ by his methods - hence the Cult of Trump. Hassan is professional and far from judgmental of the Trump ‘cultists,’ because he understands first hand how easy it is to be pulled into a dangerous destructive cult experience. But he also understands (and helps people in his current therapy practice) how recovery of ones true self can occur after a cult experience. The most valuable portions of his book are the last chapters that examine how we can all break the cult spell, how we can possibly heal the divisions of our nation and rid ourselves of destructive cultish leadership. This is a powerful book in the developing ‘Surviving Trump and Strengthening our Democracy’ cannon. 4 stars.
November 27, 2019
Mr. Hassan has been helping victims of mind control for decades. The focus of his latest book is not to simply share his opinions on Trump. It dives deep into researched-based mind control models and only looks at well-documented and indisputed examples. Very sobering book. Very well written.
October 24, 2019
Well, aren't you lucky? Here's the book from a leading witch doctor that knows how to break the spells of evil sorcerers.
July 10, 2024
I got halfway through the book before it just felt like the author was just repeating himself. Lot of good points in the book but sad it was overshadowed by a book that coukd have been 100 pages shorter.
March 26, 2021
This book by cult expert Steven Hassan is a must-read, especially if you care about protecting yourself from people who want to manipulate or control you or want to help friends/family who are already caught up in an abusive or controlling group.
Don't judge the book by its bad title and worse subtitle, or the aggressive cover... it's so much better than any of these and the content is much more about cults and how they influence people in general than just Trump (although the Trump cult forms the main framework for exploring all of the similar and often even directly related cults).
The book covers how we define cults, what traits the leaders tend to show, the common methods used to control and influence people, and why the US in particular is prone to accepting cult-type manipulation. It also shows how modern political structures, laws, media and citizens are not really equipped to deal with this type of manipulation or even that great at identifying it, even though we have good ways to do so. The author shares many fascinating examples of various cults or organizations that use cult-like manipulation for profit and power. It's fascinating to see how many of these are directly tied to Trump or to the people who surround him, and to see how certain media use these same techniques.
There was some really interesting stuff on the mental health profession as well, about how there is a special designation (DSM-5) for victims of cult brainwashing and undue influence, who may have been coerced to do things they wouldn't otherwise do. This is apparently used by clinicians, drug companies, and health insurance companies etc but is not used (or even really known about) by the courts and policy makers... He also claims few therapists and psychiatrists are trained in dealing with this population suffering from coercion or disassociative disorders caused by cults/aggressive persuasion.
This seems like... a really good place for society to start, with the mental health profession and law makers. How can society stop the people who abuse these victims if we don't even properly recognize and deal with the suffering they cause, and if we keep pretending all of these manipulative techniques are easy for human beings to avoid or extract themselves from.
Despite the subject matter, it's not a depressing book. I mean, the WORLD is depressing because of all these manipulative power-hungry organizations and individuals, but the book also offers hope and a way forward. The author shares practical steps we could take at the personal level and political level to protect ourselves better from cults and cult-think, as well as solid strategies for deprogramming yourself or helping to deprogram others, once they're willing to identify the situation they may be in (that's the hard part).
One strange thing to note: I started the book in audio but had to grab the Kindle version as well because there was so much I wanted to highlight (ended up with 300+ highlights!), but weirdly the text version and audiobook were in a totally different order, so that I thought chapters had been skipped or added, but I later found them in other places. Just a headsup in case you also like to read in two formats.
And last, I highly recommend checking out the reviews of Ross Blocher and Carrie Poppy here too, as they do amazing journalistic work in this field (exploring fringe groups with their podcast Oh No Ross and Carrie) and also write nuanced and thoughtful reviews. Follow them for good critical thinking reads and journalism. <3
Don't judge the book by its bad title and worse subtitle, or the aggressive cover... it's so much better than any of these and the content is much more about cults and how they influence people in general than just Trump (although the Trump cult forms the main framework for exploring all of the similar and often even directly related cults).
The book covers how we define cults, what traits the leaders tend to show, the common methods used to control and influence people, and why the US in particular is prone to accepting cult-type manipulation. It also shows how modern political structures, laws, media and citizens are not really equipped to deal with this type of manipulation or even that great at identifying it, even though we have good ways to do so. The author shares many fascinating examples of various cults or organizations that use cult-like manipulation for profit and power. It's fascinating to see how many of these are directly tied to Trump or to the people who surround him, and to see how certain media use these same techniques.
There was some really interesting stuff on the mental health profession as well, about how there is a special designation (DSM-5) for victims of cult brainwashing and undue influence, who may have been coerced to do things they wouldn't otherwise do. This is apparently used by clinicians, drug companies, and health insurance companies etc but is not used (or even really known about) by the courts and policy makers... He also claims few therapists and psychiatrists are trained in dealing with this population suffering from coercion or disassociative disorders caused by cults/aggressive persuasion.
Curricula that explain undue influence and mind control, and show practitioners what to look for in patients, need to be developed and incorporated into all mental health training programs.
This seems like... a really good place for society to start, with the mental health profession and law makers. How can society stop the people who abuse these victims if we don't even properly recognize and deal with the suffering they cause, and if we keep pretending all of these manipulative techniques are easy for human beings to avoid or extract themselves from.
Millions of people are born or brought into cults of all sorts—religious, political, sex trafficking. Often they are haunted by undiagnosed mental and emotional scars that can lead to addiction, depression, even suicide as a result of their cult involvement. They may undergo multiple medical evaluations and treatments, with little benefit and often at great expense. A starting place to help these people—and our health care system—would be to conduct an epidemiological study to determine the public health risks and the costs of treating such patients using traditional approaches—drug and alcohol addiction programs, psychotherapy, medications, and hospitalizations. Getting to the root problem, the cult involvement, can be a much more effective, and less expensive approach.
Despite the subject matter, it's not a depressing book. I mean, the WORLD is depressing because of all these manipulative power-hungry organizations and individuals, but the book also offers hope and a way forward. The author shares practical steps we could take at the personal level and political level to protect ourselves better from cults and cult-think, as well as solid strategies for deprogramming yourself or helping to deprogram others, once they're willing to identify the situation they may be in (that's the hard part).
One strange thing to note: I started the book in audio but had to grab the Kindle version as well because there was so much I wanted to highlight (ended up with 300+ highlights!), but weirdly the text version and audiobook were in a totally different order, so that I thought chapters had been skipped or added, but I later found them in other places. Just a headsup in case you also like to read in two formats.
And last, I highly recommend checking out the reviews of Ross Blocher and Carrie Poppy here too, as they do amazing journalistic work in this field (exploring fringe groups with their podcast Oh No Ross and Carrie) and also write nuanced and thoughtful reviews. Follow them for good critical thinking reads and journalism. <3
February 23, 2021
Steven Hassan is amazing! As a former member of the Moonies cult, he approaches the topic of manipulation with empathy and thoughtfulness. As a psychologist, he made a career out of helping people leave cults and recover what he refers to as "freedom of mind".
This book helped me understand how otherwise rational people "fall down the rabbit hole", emerging as believers in conspiracy.
He also discusses the techniques Trump uses to influence how people think. Interestingly, Trump attended Normal Vincente Peale's church as a child. He metabolized Peale's approach and espouses positive thinking to the point of magical thinking: nothing about his thoughts, personality, or administration are negative. (It's everyone else who is negative!)
For people who are dealing with life stress and emotional vulnerabilities, it is seductive to surrender critical thinking and succumb to an authority figure who seems to care about their fears and troubles.
Between this book and Mary Trump's analysis of Trump, I feel like I have more insight into these last 4 crazy years.
This book helped me understand how otherwise rational people "fall down the rabbit hole", emerging as believers in conspiracy.
He also discusses the techniques Trump uses to influence how people think. Interestingly, Trump attended Normal Vincente Peale's church as a child. He metabolized Peale's approach and espouses positive thinking to the point of magical thinking: nothing about his thoughts, personality, or administration are negative. (It's everyone else who is negative!)
For people who are dealing with life stress and emotional vulnerabilities, it is seductive to surrender critical thinking and succumb to an authority figure who seems to care about their fears and troubles.
Between this book and Mary Trump's analysis of Trump, I feel like I have more insight into these last 4 crazy years.
February 26, 2021
"A big lie (German: große Lüge; often the big lie) is a propaganda technique used for political purpose, defined as "a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the facts, especially when used as a propaganda device by a politician or official body". The German expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, to describe the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously"."
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”
This is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels. Among psychologists something like this is known as the "illusion of truth" effect.
(These quotes are not in this book, but are directly relatable to the information in it.)
"Repeat your message over and over and over again. Repetition makes the heart grow fonder and fiction, if heard frequently enough, can come to sound like fact." Elliot Aronson, quoted in the book.
The BIG LIE is especially effective when you limit your followers' access to information. Accusing all but the far right and conservative news outlets of being the bad guy and promoting 'fake news' helps guide what your followers see and hear.
First, I feel validated in my observations and concerns about Trump and his influence. Validation is wonderful when surrounded by many who believe I am simply wrong.
Second, I have made the decision to not share this on Facebook like I do with everything else I read. for obvious reasons and I am not up for backlash.
I picked this book up because I was having so much trouble understanding how so many of my family and friends could embrace and defend this man. Good people who are not just tolerating him because of SCOTUS or abortion or whatever, but are 100% in his camp and on his side no matter what he says and does. It is disheartening and there is just so much dissonance in my mind over it. I hoped this book might help me understand things a little better and it has.
The basic premise of this book is that the author, Hassan, who has personal experience with being in and escaping a cult and has spent 40+ years since in behavioral health studying cults and helping individuals who are trying to break free of the programming of cults, saw striking similarities in Trump’s rhetoric and actions to those of other cult leaders and authoritarian political leaders and Hassan decided to note all that in this book. Hassan lays out the case that Trump is an authoritarian, cult-like leader. Are ALL Trump supporters entranced in his 'cult'? No. But many are. I was filled with great sadness, and a little fear, to realize that I know people who would jump to Trump's defense if he followed through on his outrageous claim that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and face no consequences. (Who says something like that?!)
Trump expertly uses many items out of the 'cult playbook.' It's just.... frightening.
Another point of interest is that I began to see similarities between legitimate teaching and ‘tools’ and tactics used in manipulation and mind control. That was unsettling but is so common in the world: take a good principle and twist and corrupt it to your use for ‘evil’.
The book covers cults and their methods, personality traits, with a few suggestions on how to talk to someone you feel has been manipulated and 'controlled.'
There's just too much to quote or comment on. I am really glad I read it.
This was published in 2019. The events that have transpired since its publishing reinforce everything the author has said.
Content: if your are a devout Trump fan I recommend you NOT read this book; tiny bit of profanity in a couple of quotes used.
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”
This is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels. Among psychologists something like this is known as the "illusion of truth" effect.
(These quotes are not in this book, but are directly relatable to the information in it.)
"Repeat your message over and over and over again. Repetition makes the heart grow fonder and fiction, if heard frequently enough, can come to sound like fact." Elliot Aronson, quoted in the book.
The BIG LIE is especially effective when you limit your followers' access to information. Accusing all but the far right and conservative news outlets of being the bad guy and promoting 'fake news' helps guide what your followers see and hear.
First, I feel validated in my observations and concerns about Trump and his influence. Validation is wonderful when surrounded by many who believe I am simply wrong.
Second, I have made the decision to not share this on Facebook like I do with everything else I read. for obvious reasons and I am not up for backlash.
I picked this book up because I was having so much trouble understanding how so many of my family and friends could embrace and defend this man. Good people who are not just tolerating him because of SCOTUS or abortion or whatever, but are 100% in his camp and on his side no matter what he says and does. It is disheartening and there is just so much dissonance in my mind over it. I hoped this book might help me understand things a little better and it has.
The basic premise of this book is that the author, Hassan, who has personal experience with being in and escaping a cult and has spent 40+ years since in behavioral health studying cults and helping individuals who are trying to break free of the programming of cults, saw striking similarities in Trump’s rhetoric and actions to those of other cult leaders and authoritarian political leaders and Hassan decided to note all that in this book. Hassan lays out the case that Trump is an authoritarian, cult-like leader. Are ALL Trump supporters entranced in his 'cult'? No. But many are. I was filled with great sadness, and a little fear, to realize that I know people who would jump to Trump's defense if he followed through on his outrageous claim that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and face no consequences. (Who says something like that?!)
Trump expertly uses many items out of the 'cult playbook.' It's just.... frightening.
Another point of interest is that I began to see similarities between legitimate teaching and ‘tools’ and tactics used in manipulation and mind control. That was unsettling but is so common in the world: take a good principle and twist and corrupt it to your use for ‘evil’.
The book covers cults and their methods, personality traits, with a few suggestions on how to talk to someone you feel has been manipulated and 'controlled.'
There's just too much to quote or comment on. I am really glad I read it.
This was published in 2019. The events that have transpired since its publishing reinforce everything the author has said.
Content: if your are a devout Trump fan I recommend you NOT read this book; tiny bit of profanity in a couple of quotes used.
September 28, 2022
Wow, this was quite the whirlwind. I first heard the author interviewed on the Culty podcast and was struck by his deep knowledge of cults and the psychology of those stuck in them.
In Cult of Trump, Hassan dives deep. It's a veritable encyclopedia of information, both of the history of cults and also the underpinnings of their machinery. It's enough to make you rethink your own religious background if you happen to have been raised adjacent to a faith system.
In the context of the Trump era, the cult of personality intersecting with the cult of jingoism is indeed a dangerous cocktail.
In Cult of Trump, Hassan dives deep. It's a veritable encyclopedia of information, both of the history of cults and also the underpinnings of their machinery. It's enough to make you rethink your own religious background if you happen to have been raised adjacent to a faith system.
In the context of the Trump era, the cult of personality intersecting with the cult of jingoism is indeed a dangerous cocktail.
October 1, 2020
What I loved about this book is that, while I was skeptical of some of the points and felt some of Hassan's analysis was too simple, I could feel that he wanted me to think for myself, challenge him, and do my own critical thinking. I cried a little bit at one point, because I felt so deeply respected.
The book was scary, but it made me feel more secure in a way--Trump is not some never-before-seen aberration. He fits an authoritarian model. People have fallen prey to thought reform/mindwashing before and they will do it again. It is a deeply human flaw, but it can be fought.
The book was scary, but it made me feel more secure in a way--Trump is not some never-before-seen aberration. He fits an authoritarian model. People have fallen prey to thought reform/mindwashing before and they will do it again. It is a deeply human flaw, but it can be fought.
May 2, 2020
This book provides a compelling analysis of Trump’s narcissistic milieu, and the author draws exhaustive parallels between his behavior and that of some infamous cult leaders. I cannot stress enough that these are important considerations if you want to steer clear of toxic people.
I do think it is important, however, that we don’t give Trump too much credit. My sense from observing Trump is that the factors that drive him are quite different than any of the other figures mentioned —think lizard brain, always and forever. Whereas POTUS throws abusive tantrums, these cult leaders refined and leveraged their toolkit of duplicity in a tenacious pursuit of unbridled megalomania—nothing short of absolute God-like adoration and power.
Trump clearly knows some “tricks of the trade,” but I find it impossible to believe he possesses the executive function or self-awareness required to operate in this manner. Hubbard and Koresh et. al were intelligent, methodical, and singular in their mission for absolute dominance. Trump, by contrast, is far too infantile to go for the long game; what long game? The man is bankrupt of social intelligence, devoid of self-awareness, and living life in a constant state of infantile reactivity. It made me wonder why his trademark antics are so firmly in the category of these far more deviously intelligent predators..
Just a guess...I can only imagine that Trump must has learned these narcissistic behaviors starting with his abusive father. He has rubbed elbows with far too many other unscrupulous people over the years to have not picked up on their ways.
This book is full of wise observations and a deep understanding of interpersonal dynamics. The harm all of these people have done is also the same no matter the MO. Still, I think it is dangerous to stray from the fact that the American people elected a profoundly stupid, grossly negligent bully. As a country we tend to look back and be a little too forgiving, so please, let’s never label Trump an evil genius. It’s actually far more terrifying. He is an oblivious clown parading through life without any forethought to how his action impact others. He just got lucky, and nothing more. He was born to a rich father, strutting around with a baffling degree of entitlement and ignorance so get some press attention. That led to a pretend book or two, a TV show, and from there he stumbled like a semi-conscious drunk through the darkness toward his post in the White House—because he had the whim, because Obama made fun of him that one time, because he was a TV star in the ultimate reality show...and because he could. And we let him.
I do think it is important, however, that we don’t give Trump too much credit. My sense from observing Trump is that the factors that drive him are quite different than any of the other figures mentioned —think lizard brain, always and forever. Whereas POTUS throws abusive tantrums, these cult leaders refined and leveraged their toolkit of duplicity in a tenacious pursuit of unbridled megalomania—nothing short of absolute God-like adoration and power.
Trump clearly knows some “tricks of the trade,” but I find it impossible to believe he possesses the executive function or self-awareness required to operate in this manner. Hubbard and Koresh et. al were intelligent, methodical, and singular in their mission for absolute dominance. Trump, by contrast, is far too infantile to go for the long game; what long game? The man is bankrupt of social intelligence, devoid of self-awareness, and living life in a constant state of infantile reactivity. It made me wonder why his trademark antics are so firmly in the category of these far more deviously intelligent predators..
Just a guess...I can only imagine that Trump must has learned these narcissistic behaviors starting with his abusive father. He has rubbed elbows with far too many other unscrupulous people over the years to have not picked up on their ways.
This book is full of wise observations and a deep understanding of interpersonal dynamics. The harm all of these people have done is also the same no matter the MO. Still, I think it is dangerous to stray from the fact that the American people elected a profoundly stupid, grossly negligent bully. As a country we tend to look back and be a little too forgiving, so please, let’s never label Trump an evil genius. It’s actually far more terrifying. He is an oblivious clown parading through life without any forethought to how his action impact others. He just got lucky, and nothing more. He was born to a rich father, strutting around with a baffling degree of entitlement and ignorance so get some press attention. That led to a pretend book or two, a TV show, and from there he stumbled like a semi-conscious drunk through the darkness toward his post in the White House—because he had the whim, because Obama made fun of him that one time, because he was a TV star in the ultimate reality show...and because he could. And we let him.
August 7, 2024
First of all, I can't believe this is written in 2019 - it seems like a lifetime ago and there would be ANY amount more information contains within if it were written today!
I was actually a little hesitant to pick up this book, as anyone familiar with my reading interests I do love cults (uh I mean learning about cults) and I don't shy aware from reading about politics - but on first brush "cult" felt a little too overblown.
However given some of the events of the past weeks (uh people wearing ear bandages for e.g.) and actually giving the book a chance I'm convinced. For anyone who is unaware Steven Hassan is one of the seminal cult experts of the world. He originally was indoctrinated into the 'Moonies' and after escaping them became an expert in how cults operate and how to support people out of them.
So basically Hassan knows his stuff and lays down a lot of information about how as a celebrity and political leader Trump has operated much liked a cult leader and created a following like a cult. If like me you wonder how the most unchristian example of a man has been so celebrated by apparent Christian groups, this book actually explains some of the background (effectively there are many major groups in the US who really could care less about the character of a politician as long as said politician can be a vehicle for their agenda).
For some this book might be confirmation bias, but if you are similar to me in that you weren't too sure if this was an appropriate use of the word 'cult' I strongly recommended this book, its well researched, argued and not unfair. Also has some vital sections on how to help loved ones impacted by cult influence, which is extremely valuable.
I was actually a little hesitant to pick up this book, as anyone familiar with my reading interests I do love cults (uh I mean learning about cults) and I don't shy aware from reading about politics - but on first brush "cult" felt a little too overblown.
However given some of the events of the past weeks (uh people wearing ear bandages for e.g.) and actually giving the book a chance I'm convinced. For anyone who is unaware Steven Hassan is one of the seminal cult experts of the world. He originally was indoctrinated into the 'Moonies' and after escaping them became an expert in how cults operate and how to support people out of them.
So basically Hassan knows his stuff and lays down a lot of information about how as a celebrity and political leader Trump has operated much liked a cult leader and created a following like a cult. If like me you wonder how the most unchristian example of a man has been so celebrated by apparent Christian groups, this book actually explains some of the background (effectively there are many major groups in the US who really could care less about the character of a politician as long as said politician can be a vehicle for their agenda).
For some this book might be confirmation bias, but if you are similar to me in that you weren't too sure if this was an appropriate use of the word 'cult' I strongly recommended this book, its well researched, argued and not unfair. Also has some vital sections on how to help loved ones impacted by cult influence, which is extremely valuable.
November 17, 2019
Steve Hassan’s The Cult of Trump is brilliantly and sensitively written, accessible, and non-judgmental. The Trump phenomenon is a dramatic, if not dangerous example of how cults are hardly a fringe experience. They only seem that way because of a mass denial and lack of education that runs as deep and as wide as society itself. Hassan’s book is a critical and bipartisan step toward addressing—indeed healing--this national gap in education. The book is timely and, for those who value democracy, it is immensely important.
February 21, 2020
An important read for everybody. Trump might just be the most well-documented and widely recognizable malignant narcissist in the world.
It is the best example to teach people throughout the world about the dangers of these people - and how many of us are, or have been, influenced by people just like Trump.
It is the best example to teach people throughout the world about the dangers of these people - and how many of us are, or have been, influenced by people just like Trump.
April 23, 2020
Interesting, monotonous, biased, and at the same time makes you wonder why in the world did we ever think this guy would be a good president....so I think Steven Hassan makes some really great points, but the book repeats itself, somewhat boring voice to listen to, and it gets a bit too opinionated in some parts.
March 9, 2023
While I agree with a lot that this books has to say, I think it should be retitled " everyone is in a cult except for democrats like me, and I'm also prejudice towards christians" I mean come on seriously? There's cultist mentality in nearly all groups EXCEPT the Democratic party? Please dude. That's just bias.
December 18, 2019
This book helped me to understand why so many of President Trump's voters support him no matter what he says or does even though they might find his words and behavior troubling. It also gave me more insight in how cult groups get and control their followers. A good but frightening read.
July 5, 2024
When I was in high school and for my first couple of years past that I was sucked into what is now the International Christian Church an offshoot of the churches of Christ. I moved down to San Diego to be involved and yes, I was one of those annoying young people that would ask you to join a bible study. I lived in a house with ten other girls which could be a lot of fun and many hours of my week were devoted to the church. I was fully immersed until one day a little teeny bit of doubt popped up in my mind. And then another one. And then I started examining what we were doing--isolating people from their families and other relationships, outwardly judging and critiquing one another, the hierarchy that kept us inline--you were mentored and expected to recruit, etc. There were little moments like being told I could be out recruiting people instead of reading that book, my low-back dress might cause brothers to sin, how we were going to stay on campus that summer and blitz the entire city for Christ, and frankly I didn't want to do that.
This book is good, but Chapter Nine, How to Undo Mind Control is what I came here for.
How to know if you are under mind control
Reality test: disengage and take a break from the situation
Educate yourself: read about social psychology--particularly mind control (seek out libraries)
Listen to critics and former believers: highly respected and credentialed experts that hold different views from your own and verifiable facts.
Self-reflect: after you've done the first three--self-reflect. Look back to a time before you adopted your current belief system. Then trace step-by-step how you came to arrive where you are.
Ask Questions.
I took that first step--I flew home to see friends and family for a weekend. Being out of the church it dawned on me that people outside of the church were okay. I had read a book about cults my first year of college, and I went back and read that book (while taking the class I wasn't ready). I started to seek out others who had left the church and they seemed fine. I started reading comic books and believe it or not, Spiderman and Superman were good models--I realized again you can be good in this world and not be a part of their church. It took me a couple of months, but I left that church. I threw all my stuff in my car while my roommates cried and called my discipling mentor. I told her to back off. I hated to leave like that, but it was the only way.
I had a lot to work through the next few months, but I did. I came back. And I'm kind of glad I experienced it because I learned firsthand how a group or a leader can change your entire worldview.
This book was published in 2020, but if you haven't read it yet, you should. Especially if you know Trump Maga Cultists or Christian nationalists and wonder how they can come back from this. They can, but according to the author, we can't make fun of them and belittle them. That doesn't work. But he has good advice on what you can do. The first is that you have to be a good friend. I know! Seems hard! But there is good advice here on what you can do.
While I came here for the how-to section, there is a lot of good information in this book about how cults and in particular Trump works which is good information to have. We and the media have played right into his hand and that is discussed as well. It is also a good book to explore your own ideologies and sources of propaganda, because those on the left, we have our own.
We can come out of this--while I write this, the UK just kicked their far-right parties to the curb. But we have to move now.
This book is good, but Chapter Nine, How to Undo Mind Control is what I came here for.
How to know if you are under mind control
Reality test: disengage and take a break from the situation
Educate yourself: read about social psychology--particularly mind control (seek out libraries)
Listen to critics and former believers: highly respected and credentialed experts that hold different views from your own and verifiable facts.
Self-reflect: after you've done the first three--self-reflect. Look back to a time before you adopted your current belief system. Then trace step-by-step how you came to arrive where you are.
Ask Questions.
I took that first step--I flew home to see friends and family for a weekend. Being out of the church it dawned on me that people outside of the church were okay. I had read a book about cults my first year of college, and I went back and read that book (while taking the class I wasn't ready). I started to seek out others who had left the church and they seemed fine. I started reading comic books and believe it or not, Spiderman and Superman were good models--I realized again you can be good in this world and not be a part of their church. It took me a couple of months, but I left that church. I threw all my stuff in my car while my roommates cried and called my discipling mentor. I told her to back off. I hated to leave like that, but it was the only way.
I had a lot to work through the next few months, but I did. I came back. And I'm kind of glad I experienced it because I learned firsthand how a group or a leader can change your entire worldview.
This book was published in 2020, but if you haven't read it yet, you should. Especially if you know Trump Maga Cultists or Christian nationalists and wonder how they can come back from this. They can, but according to the author, we can't make fun of them and belittle them. That doesn't work. But he has good advice on what you can do. The first is that you have to be a good friend. I know! Seems hard! But there is good advice here on what you can do.
While I came here for the how-to section, there is a lot of good information in this book about how cults and in particular Trump works which is good information to have. We and the media have played right into his hand and that is discussed as well. It is also a good book to explore your own ideologies and sources of propaganda, because those on the left, we have our own.
We can come out of this--while I write this, the UK just kicked their far-right parties to the curb. But we have to move now.
Read
January 29, 2021Author Steven Hassan is an experienced cult de-programmer and I have seen his other books cited by people who needed de-programming for themselves or their loved ones. Hassan has first-hand experience with cults: he was once a high-ranking member of the Sun Myung Moon cult (Unification Church, members are known as Moonies) and his father helped de-program him.
This book is very straightfoward and full of citations. Each chapter is well organized and could stand alone. When describing characteristics of cults, leaders, and followers, Hassan gives numerous examples from well known and infamous cults, as well as documented examples from Trump.
I was less interested in this book for the political aspects, and more interested in the descriptions of cults in general. I love reading about cults. Of course there are different kinds: religious, personality, political, psychotherapy/educational, and commercial. But "ultimately it's not a group's content or ideology but rather its pattern of behavior that generally defines it as a destructive cult."
Cult behavior exists on a continuum. Hassan uses the BITE model (behavior control, information control, thought control, and emotional control) to assess cult activity.
I have personally witnessed 47/58 BITE characteristics that Hassan lists in various American Evangelical situations. Though most may have had good intentions and perhaps unwittingly stumbled upon control techniques, the fact is that many of the churches and Christian organizations I have been a part of in the US consider this sort of thing normal. I have also been a part of Christian churches and orgs outside of US influence that were able to exist without using any of these techniques. I am thankful for Reverend Canon Stephen Wright demonstrating that this was possible, otherwise I would shrug off these brainwashing techniques as "necessary for group identity." Christians, if your faith involves using strategies employed by the CIA, Scientology, Jonestown, and ISIS, you have a small god.
Another very good part of the book is a question that many of us concerned citizens have: How do you go about de-programming half a nation's worth of people?
First of all, you really have to believe that "respect, trust-building and love are stronger than fear, hate, and mind control." This will be your guiding light. You will never be able to win someone over with rational arguments. Love and care win people over.
1. Get prepared with knowledge. Double check your own beliefs. Really find out what other people are saying and critiquing about your own beliefs—are they valid points? Read the whole article and double check before you repost anything. Be critical of special interest groups that might be influencing your news sources. And do the homework on what your loved one believes. Watch/read what they are consuming and take notes. This will allow you to have genuine conversations.
2. Do not attack, belittle, demean their beliefs, mention they are showing signs of being in a cult, etc. This reinforces indoctrination by raising their defenses and triggering the "us vs them" mentality that cults depend on to succeed. You don't need to be critical of their leader, group, or doctrine to de-program. No one likes feeling stupid or admitting (even to themselves) they might have been wrong. If you feel yourself losing control over your emotions, the conversation is not going in the right direction.
3. Act with respect, warmth, and integrity. Genuine care, genuine curiosity about how they formed their beliefs and why they like what they believe, deep questions and long pauses are all good. Cults seek to replace the authentic self with a "cult self." Genuine care seeks to find the authentic self that is buried inside. Remind loved ones of good times and past experiences together.
4. Important conversations:
- Apologize if you have said mean things about their politics in the past. Build up old relationships that have broken down. Positive social relationships are essential to getting out of controlling groups.
- Invite a role play convo where you try to learn about their beliefs so well you can explain it just as they would, and ask them to correct you until you get it right. Then invite them to do the same. "I want to get your feedback and perspective." See Sarah Silverman's show "I Love You America" for good examples of experience sharing.
- Share knowledge about other cults and authoritarian governments and techniques they use. People can connect the dots on their own.
5. Help undo phobias. "Phobia indoctrination is the single most powerful technique for keeping people dependent and obedient. I have encountered many people who had long ago stopped believing in the leader but are psychologically paralyzed with deliberately implanted phobias, which are often unconscious." If you have a phobia, try these techniques on yourself first. Then you'll be able to use your experience to help others. (I'm going to try this out on my own irrational fear: needles).
- Learn the difference between an irrational fear and rational, legitimate fears.
- Phobias generally provoke physiological responses like tight chest, holding breath, etc. Visualize yourself in that fear-causing situation and practice using breathing or self-talk to calm yourself down. Practice this over and over.
- Systemic desensitization is the final step. This involves putting yourself into the real fear-causing situation and using the calming techniques you practiced.
- Explain how people deliberately use phobias to control others. This can be cults, abusive domestic relationships, etc.
- Try to connect the dots between positive visualizations and the fact that people use phobias for control. "Phobias can be deliberately implanted but they can also be removed and cured."
6. Finally, seek out personal stories of other people who have left cults. They have lifesaving stories to tell. People can be reluctant to talk about their own cult experiences even if they recognize them for what they are (it might be embarrassing). But they might be more willing to open up when they hear others openly discussing their own past beliefs. For example, former senior Trump advisor Omarosa Manigault Newman wrote a book about her experiences. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen said, "Sitting here today, it seems unbelievable that I was so mesmerized by Donald Trump that I was willing to do things for him that I knew were absolutely wrong," and that his relationship with Trump was "something akin to a cult."
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"Beliefs should never be held as if they are the truth. The more strongly someone claims to have the truth, the more evidence we need to accept it. Certitude is not evidence of truth. Nor does repetition make it true. If anything, repetition should make you suspicious. Truth always stands up to scrutiny on its merits."
This book is very straightfoward and full of citations. Each chapter is well organized and could stand alone. When describing characteristics of cults, leaders, and followers, Hassan gives numerous examples from well known and infamous cults, as well as documented examples from Trump.
I was less interested in this book for the political aspects, and more interested in the descriptions of cults in general. I love reading about cults. Of course there are different kinds: religious, personality, political, psychotherapy/educational, and commercial. But "ultimately it's not a group's content or ideology but rather its pattern of behavior that generally defines it as a destructive cult."
Cult behavior exists on a continuum. Hassan uses the BITE model (behavior control, information control, thought control, and emotional control) to assess cult activity.
I have personally witnessed 47/58 BITE characteristics that Hassan lists in various American Evangelical situations. Though most may have had good intentions and perhaps unwittingly stumbled upon control techniques, the fact is that many of the churches and Christian organizations I have been a part of in the US consider this sort of thing normal. I have also been a part of Christian churches and orgs outside of US influence that were able to exist without using any of these techniques. I am thankful for Reverend Canon Stephen Wright demonstrating that this was possible, otherwise I would shrug off these brainwashing techniques as "necessary for group identity." Christians, if your faith involves using strategies employed by the CIA, Scientology, Jonestown, and ISIS, you have a small god.
Another very good part of the book is a question that many of us concerned citizens have: How do you go about de-programming half a nation's worth of people?
First of all, you really have to believe that "respect, trust-building and love are stronger than fear, hate, and mind control." This will be your guiding light. You will never be able to win someone over with rational arguments. Love and care win people over.
1. Get prepared with knowledge. Double check your own beliefs. Really find out what other people are saying and critiquing about your own beliefs—are they valid points? Read the whole article and double check before you repost anything. Be critical of special interest groups that might be influencing your news sources. And do the homework on what your loved one believes. Watch/read what they are consuming and take notes. This will allow you to have genuine conversations.
2. Do not attack, belittle, demean their beliefs, mention they are showing signs of being in a cult, etc. This reinforces indoctrination by raising their defenses and triggering the "us vs them" mentality that cults depend on to succeed. You don't need to be critical of their leader, group, or doctrine to de-program. No one likes feeling stupid or admitting (even to themselves) they might have been wrong. If you feel yourself losing control over your emotions, the conversation is not going in the right direction.
3. Act with respect, warmth, and integrity. Genuine care, genuine curiosity about how they formed their beliefs and why they like what they believe, deep questions and long pauses are all good. Cults seek to replace the authentic self with a "cult self." Genuine care seeks to find the authentic self that is buried inside. Remind loved ones of good times and past experiences together.
4. Important conversations:
- Apologize if you have said mean things about their politics in the past. Build up old relationships that have broken down. Positive social relationships are essential to getting out of controlling groups.
- Invite a role play convo where you try to learn about their beliefs so well you can explain it just as they would, and ask them to correct you until you get it right. Then invite them to do the same. "I want to get your feedback and perspective." See Sarah Silverman's show "I Love You America" for good examples of experience sharing.
- Share knowledge about other cults and authoritarian governments and techniques they use. People can connect the dots on their own.
5. Help undo phobias. "Phobia indoctrination is the single most powerful technique for keeping people dependent and obedient. I have encountered many people who had long ago stopped believing in the leader but are psychologically paralyzed with deliberately implanted phobias, which are often unconscious." If you have a phobia, try these techniques on yourself first. Then you'll be able to use your experience to help others. (I'm going to try this out on my own irrational fear: needles).
- Learn the difference between an irrational fear and rational, legitimate fears.
- Phobias generally provoke physiological responses like tight chest, holding breath, etc. Visualize yourself in that fear-causing situation and practice using breathing or self-talk to calm yourself down. Practice this over and over.
- Systemic desensitization is the final step. This involves putting yourself into the real fear-causing situation and using the calming techniques you practiced.
- Explain how people deliberately use phobias to control others. This can be cults, abusive domestic relationships, etc.
- Try to connect the dots between positive visualizations and the fact that people use phobias for control. "Phobias can be deliberately implanted but they can also be removed and cured."
6. Finally, seek out personal stories of other people who have left cults. They have lifesaving stories to tell. People can be reluctant to talk about their own cult experiences even if they recognize them for what they are (it might be embarrassing). But they might be more willing to open up when they hear others openly discussing their own past beliefs. For example, former senior Trump advisor Omarosa Manigault Newman wrote a book about her experiences. Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen said, "Sitting here today, it seems unbelievable that I was so mesmerized by Donald Trump that I was willing to do things for him that I knew were absolutely wrong," and that his relationship with Trump was "something akin to a cult."
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"Beliefs should never be held as if they are the truth. The more strongly someone claims to have the truth, the more evidence we need to accept it. Certitude is not evidence of truth. Nor does repetition make it true. If anything, repetition should make you suspicious. Truth always stands up to scrutiny on its merits."
May 9, 2020
Finished this book tonight - a book someone had given me as a holiday gift, with a personal note scrawled inside, which I thought was really classy. The book deals less with politics and more with the psychology of cult leaders, cult followers and the tools and strategies used to foster the codependent relationship that is required to maintain the cult’s cohesion against any kind of outside influence. The author uses Trump, his followers and his propaganda networks as they really do fit the classic example but it’s about much more than just that. The author is himself a former cult member of the “Moonies”, led by a South Korean figure who I believe was most prominent in the 1980s. It was only from a forced separation with the group that he was exposed to other ideas and finally was awakened that the leader wasn’t in fact infallible and he had been brainwashed the whole time. He has since gone on to become a psychologist, who specializes in helping people reclaim their lives after having been liberated from various cults. It’s sad to say but I believe he is dead on with his comparisons. It’s why there have been this unbudging 42% that support him through things that any other actual president, Republican or Democratic, would have never gotten away with. Some of the strategies that stuck in my mind - constant repetition and the insistence that the “leader” be 100% correct, 100% of the time, even if facts have to be altered to support this (“fake news”, “alternative facts”). The belittling and humiliation of anyone who dares disagree. The insistence that anyone who disagrees is expelled from the tribe. “Community” created through the mindless group-think that one often sees at his rallies, etc. The author goes over ways that are more likely to be effective in trying to engage, including one conversational exercise I thought interesting where the listener seeks to explain issues from the cultist’s perspective on an issue or issues and then asks them if they are correct. And the the roles are reversed. I can’t imagine too many people fully consenting fo these exercises but they were strategies I might try out just in common disagreements with people in my life as it seems like a healthy way to understand each other. He then kind of gives his idea of a path forward, which seemed nice and I think ideal but I couldn’t imagine conservatives - especially today’s conservatives - ever even considering it. It was honestly more interesting of a book than I thought it would be. The author starts to ramble a bit at times and sometimes his personal referenced experiences come across as a bit forced but the writing flows well. It was a quick read and I can’t say that I was ever bored or wanting to just get through any part of it.
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