Aug. 21 2023, Published 10:20 a.m. ET
Donald Trump’s one-time friend MSNBC host Joe Scarborough attacked the ex-president’s base by comparing them to a cult on-air, RadarOnline.com has learned.
On Monday, Scarborough and Mika Brezinski discussed a recent poll that asked Trump supporters to answer on how honest certain people or institutions were. 71% of the people polled felt like Trump was telling them the truth, followed by 63% believing Friends & Family and 56% trusting conservative media figures. Only 42% said they trusted religious leaders.
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“They trust the former president even more than their own loved ones,” Brzezinski said.
She continued, “Let’s put a frame around that. They trust the former president more than they trust their own loved ones. 71% say they feel what Trump tells them is the truth. I had friends and family at 63%, conservative media figures at 56%, and a religious leader at 42%.”
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Scarborough recalled a recent dinner where the topic of conversation was about how people could still support Donald Trump following his fourth indictment. He turned to the show’s guest Charlie Sykes to ask if Trump supporters could be considered a cult.
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“And there were really no good answers except, you know, the question is, is it a cult? Is it you mean you look at it, Charlie? You look at the definition of cult leaders,” Scarborough said. “I just saw this on Google. Off the top, cult leaders must be dynamic, charismatic, and convincing because their goal is to control their members to acquire money or power-related advantages. These characteristics are crucial because a cult leader needs his members to strictly adhere to his teachings and doctrines.”
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“How twisted it is just generally that in America, people follow a political leader like we always ask questions,” the Morning Joe host continued.
Scarborough asked Sykes, “Why? Why do people have flags of a politician? Trump People might be proud of that. No, that’s nothing to be proud of. Politicians serve us.”
“And then this is the most shocking thing coming from the evangelical church,” Scarborough said. “Nearly 30% more people blindly follow their cult leader, Donald Trump, than their own religious leaders that say, please don’t tell me about how this is a Jesus thing. It’s not a Jesus thing. It’s a cult thing.”