(This post was intended for politics@lemmy.world, but as it seems they don’t allow text posts, I’m posting it here)
This post will likely not go over well with everyone and some people may not agree with the premise of the question. Mods please remove if not allowed.
I am curious if the MAGA-esque approach to politics is new for the US, or if there have been other examples of similar political movements which may be considered “cult-like”. To better define what I mean, here are some examples:
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Large amounts of signs bearing a candidate’s name being shown by single individuals (e.g. big trucks covered in Trump signs everywhere)
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Use of a candidate name over the US flag
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Use of a kind of supporter uniform (e.g. the red MAGA hat)
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The “alternative facts” of MAGA, where debate can be impossible because supporters believe anyone who is a detractor must be lying
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In some cases, voter intimidation or coercion from staunch supporters
It seems to me that some of this is new but I’d love to hear other thoughts. I have heard and seen many relatively obvious parallels to German politics in the 20s-40s, but I’m specifically wondering if anything similar has ever been seen in the US before.
But how were his voters? Did you see the kinds of things I listed in the post? I’m not saying it isn’t the case, but I wouldn’t think that FDR being reelected multiple times necessarily means his supporters were doing culty things as I listed.
Same with JFK, etc. (modulo Reagan who is mentioned in another comment). I’d say all of them have definitely been elevated to a weird status after the fact, but I’m not sure that puts them in this group.