The MAGA cult will only act like a cult with Trump - nobody else.

[SupportSanity]

"The way that people feel about Trump and the leeway they give him on a bunch of things is non-transferable"

Sarah Longwell from the Bulwark said this on Wednesday's "Bulwark - The Next Level podcast."
Sarah runs several political focus groups every week. She has a particular insight into Trump voters based upon those focus groups.

So if something happens to Trump and he is out for whatever reason, it's a total game changer.

No more cult leader, no more cult action.

I think this one sentence from Sarah might be the most important sentence ever.

Sarah runs the "Bulwark Focus Group" podcast - available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts.

[Ocelot II]

1. I've always thought that. This is a cult of personality,

and those aren't transferrable. If Satan calls Trump home there will be a huge power struggle in the GOP; that pissant Vance won't be accepted as the new Dear Leader.

[SupportSanity]

3. Vance was the topic in the next part of that podcast.

They were basically saying the same thing as you - that they don't trust him, respect him. And these are Trump voters.

So if Trump is gone, it gets VERY interesting.

[Polybius]

8. I still think he wins the nomination in 2028 though

If not him, then DeSantis.

[sop]

2. I completely agree; Trump is their everything, without him they split into dozens of warring factions with no leader.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why MAGA feels that way about Trump. It's a mystery.

[Mysterian]

4. Not true

Fascists have an inbred need for a "strong man" to lead them. They will worship any cult leader their TVs tell them to worship.

[taxi]

5. A thought about that

Let's say that a flight gets cancelled and the agents at the counter need to give a reason why. If each agent tells a different story, then you have many groups of angry passengers, each group with a different reason for being angry. As the passengers from different group express their grievances, confusion sets in because no one really knows what is going on. But if each agent tells the same story then one large, angry mob is created.
The question becomes one of which is better worse, all the maga as a group or lone wolf magas from coast to coast?

[drmeow]

6. In this case, I am inclinded to agree

but there is also legitimacy in Mysterian's post.

Authoritarian/Libertarian ideology is on a spectrum. In times of fear and stress, people become more extreme and people who are center right are more likely to move in that direction. That is reflected in Mysterian's post - how much of it is inbred (nature vs nurture) is hard to tell but there is a certain degree of inbred tendency.

That being said, culture also plays a significant role as does the personality of the leader and the circumstances under which they came to power.

MAGAt seems to be a cult of personality - and Trump has done everything in his power to ensure that no other personality can take his place. Unless he had been in power for 40 or so years and managed to indoctrinate the population (like in North Korea), even his offspring aren't likely to maintain the cult of personality.

Right wing propaganda disguised as news/media works hard to maintain the fear and stress which keeps a larger segment of the population in that far right quadrant.

The one thing that works against Trump is that the American people have been socialized to blame the fear and stress on the government and tends to react by voting out the party in power - especially in times of economic stress.

[Fichefinder]

7. He is their One Ring; Powerful, yes, but

when he goes that power will split into a bloody mess.

[roamer65]

9. He's a bit similar to Howard Beale from the movie "Network", IMO.

Very non-transferable cult.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

10. Yep - no one else has the ability to take over as cult leader.

Cult leader is a job that only a few people can do. I’ve heard it said that Trump is very charismatic - which I don’t see at all - but I guess it must be true. He is a cult leader and there is no other explanation for the hold that he has had over so many people.

[LS0999]

11. The ideology will live on even after the cult leader is gone

MAGA ideology is not going anywhere. Nazism and fascism are still around even though their leaders have long been dead.

[travelingthrulife]

12. I wish. These people hate liberals and most everyone else so whoever feeds them that hate will get their full support.