# Will Trump go all "Jim Jones"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 12, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463 "2019-04-12T22:42:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/21 "2019-04-13T07:20:32Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Which recent speech(es) did you listen to? What did President Trump say that seemed “deranged” or “bizarre” to you? Uhhh…I dunno, everything? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/22 "2019-04-13T13:22:01Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Which recent speech(es) did you listen to? What did President Trump say that seemed “deranged” or “bizarre” to you? Well, there’s the one where he threatened to unleash the military, the police and biker gangs on his political opponents. The one where he made weird noises and claims about wind energy including that the noise causes cancer. The video of him in a meeting where he said “oranges” instead of “origins” _three_ times. In the same meeting he said “we have to get rid of judges” and said his father was born in Germany. And on and on. Plus the usual ongoing bizarre claims on needing to build the wall, its cost, its effects, and so on. SHS rarely gives press briefings anymore because the WHPC keeps asking her for cites on all the odd claims POTUS makes. If you haven’t heard about the incredible number of out-there things Trump has said recently (even more than the usual background number), you’re not paying attention at all. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/23 "2019-04-13T13:58:22Z")
When Trump leaves office, whether at the end of this term or the next, and the circle of political life goes on as always, there are going to be a lot of Lefties who will feel mercilessly cockteased. You have yourselves worked up for Götterdämmerung with all these increasingly bizarre hypotheticals and the reality is that the buffoon will just retreat to private life and make millions on the lecture circuit. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/24 "2019-04-13T14:18:32Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Jones needed to be surrounded by his followers on a visceral level. Trump just uses his followers to prop up his public image. They’re just pawns in his show—he doesn’t actually want to be around them. While I agree that Trump views his followers as pawns, I think that he does needs them on some visceral level. Holding campaign-style rallies during one’s presidency is not normal for a president. Trump clearly loves the adulation he receives during his rallies, where he can ramble on to a rapt audience hanging on his every word, and I see them as something of a comfort blanket to him. Googling on the subject, others have also made the comparison between Trump and Jim Jones. [Here](https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=67658)’s a piece dating from before Trump’s election victory by someone who has been researching the Peoples Temple for about 10 years. From the piece: > [@](#): > > And here’s the scary part: the more I hear Trump talk, the more he reminds me of Jim Jones. It is for this reason that I feel compelled to demonstrate how I came to this conclusion. [Here](https://medium.com/@susiemeister/the-legacy-of-jim-jones-and-the-cult-of-donald-trump-116fd56aa612)’s an article with quotes from Jim Jones’ own son Stephan Jones, who only survived the Jonestown Massacre because he was away from the commune that day at a basketball game. From the article: > [@](#): > > “I see so many parallels [between Donald Trump and Jim Jones], it’s ridiculous” Stephan Jones told me. He believes that, like his father, President Trump is a narcissist and relies on similar manipulation tactics. Mr Jones said, “My dad would meet someone, quickly read what you feared most and what you wanted most, and convince you that he was the one to save you from one and give you the other.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/25 "2019-04-13T14:40:30Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > When Trump leaves office, whether at the end of this term or the next, and the circle of political life goes on as always, there are going to be a lot of Lefties who will feel mercilessly cockteased. This probably should be in its own thread, or a different, thread but I’m only on my second cuppa joe. I’m a Leftie. I want universal, single-payer health care _now_. I want affordable education _now_. I want taxes for corporations and the wealthy to go up _now_ so that they will have an incentive to invest their profits in the economy instead of hoarding it like Smaug – and provide workers with a living wage so that the workers can afford to buy things they are making, which will stimulate the economy. But I’m also a realist. Remember how we complained that Republicans are The Party of ‘No’, and how we complained that their idea of compromise is ‘We want everything we want, and we’re not giving an inch’? We do the same thing. We want the things I mentioned (among others), and many of us are not willing to bend. Many of us want a _Star Trek_ transporter to get from Point A to Point Z, when it’s more practical to walk from Point A to Point B, thence to Point C and so on. It’s frustrating that The United States of America can’t have the things that every other Western country does, but we can’t get there instantly. Slow and steady progress toward the goals is something we can do. Leaping the Snake River Canyon isn’t going to work. We need to accept that we can’t have everything we want _now_, and that we need to progress methodically. ‘Slowly but surely wins the race.’ As for Crazy Uncle Don, I wish him a very long life… in an orange jumpsuit. But it’s not going to happen. He’s not going to be impeached, and he’s not going to be removed from office despite his obvious mental disabilities. He’s not going to spend any time in prison after he’s out of office. He’s going to go on the talk show circuit and rake in millions of dollars, he’s going to face fines and penalties for his crimes, and he’s going to spend his time fighting the courts until he dies. We need to forget vengeance, and just let the legal process grind him up for us – and get on with the business of progressing toward a better America. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/26 "2019-04-13T14:42:12Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > He’ll probably just use legal machinations for as long as possible, and die of poor health or mental deterioration before getting thrown in jail or otherwise receiving punishment. All the time, however, he’ll continue to tweet increasingly incoherent gibberish. That would not be ideal but I could live with it. > [@Scumpup](#): > > [T]he reality is that the buffoon will just retreat to private life and make millions on the lecture circuit. This not so much. Maybe if he gets heckled. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/27 "2019-04-13T15:07:51Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Just two days ago in San Antonio [he rambled on incoherently](https://www.rawstory.com/2019/04/fox-news-cuts-away-from-press-conference-as-trump-begins-rambling-incoherently-about-fences-and-trucks/), truly sounding like people I’ve known suffering from dementia. It was so bad even Fox News had to cut away. It seems like he’s seen things in movies and thinks they’re real. I think I see what he was _trying_ to say, just very very inarticulately.\* Maybe not deranged so much as a severe case of not being able to find the right words. \*rough translation: “If there was a well publicized wall, fewer illegal immigrants would try to make the trip, which they currently don’t realize how difficult and dangerous it is.” And “truckers with clearance to enter from Mexico are sometimes ambushed by criminals who steal the trucks so they can get past the border.” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/28 "2019-04-13T15:10:07Z")
Trump will not become President For Life nor will he be dragged away kicking and screaming in cuffs. What I do see possibly happening however is his not following the example of other POTUS and getting out of the way, instead insisting upon leaving office on remaining Head of the MAGA Party, holding rallies and whipping up the base and preventing any classic Movement Conservative attempt at retaking the GOP on the rebound, but rather insisting that the GOP platform be whatever he spits out on a given morning and woe to whoever fails to follow every single time. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/29 "2019-04-13T16:13:56Z")
[Here](https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/spycatcher/201208/dangerous-cult-leaders)’s a _Psychology Today_ article from 2012, well before Trump was running for president, by Joe Navarro, a 25-year veteran of the FBI, entitled “Dangerous Cult Leaders”. Here’s a quote from it: > [@](#): > > Having studied at length the life, teachings, and behaviors of Jim Jones (Jonestown Guyana), David Koresh (Branch Davidians), Stewart Traill (The Church of Bible Understanding), Charles Manson, Shoko Asahara (Aum Shinrikyo), Joseph Di Mambro (The Order of the Solar Temple aka Ordre du Temple Solaire), Marshall Heff Applewhit (Heaven’s Gate), Bhagwan Rajneesh (Rajneesh Movement), and Warren Jeffs (polygamist leader), what stands out about these individuals is that they were or are all pathologically narcissistic. They all have or had an over-abundant belief that they were special, that they and they alone had the answers to problems, and that they had to be revered. They demanded perfect loyalty from followers, they overvalued themselves and devalued those around them, they were intolerant of criticism, and above all they did not like being questioned or challenged. And yet, in spite of these less than charming traits, they had no trouble attracting those who were willing to overlook these features. The article has a list, compiled by Navarro from his studies, of fifty typical traits of pathological cult leaders. By my counting, Trump displays around forty-five of the fifty traits. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/30 "2019-04-13T17:26:14Z")
I can imagine in the final days, Trump/Fox News will begin a campaign distributing MAGA Kool Aid to the faithful. The pitch will be “Are you going to let these dirty Mexican invaders rape you and your family? It is much better to drink the MAGA Kool Aid and we can all go to MAGA Heaven together! We can rest in eternal peace together behind the beautiful Golden Walls of MAGA Heaven safe from the threat of vicious Mexicans and Muslims. Amen!” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/31 "2019-04-13T17:29:56Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > No, Trump is not going to be President-for-Life. If he started making moves like that, even the most recalcitrant Republicans would be forced to stop looking the other way and jump on the impeachment bandwagon. His thirty percent support base would become irrelevant to them if the country were going to turn into a dictatorship. Republicans are greedy, not stupid. I’ve been listening to that nonsense since his name first popped up as a candidate-The Republicans aren’t going to do jack shit. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/32 "2019-04-13T18:51:16Z")
When Trump claimed the other day that he didn’t know what Wikileaks was, I decided that the dementia had advanced further than any (well, most) of us realized. There was no reason, not even a Trumpian reason, to lie about that. I assume that his memory is simply deteriorating. I have no confidence that the Republican party will not follow him into the abyss. Their degradation knows no limits. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/33 "2019-04-13T18:56:47Z")
^^I’ve listened to nonsense like that. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/34 "2019-04-13T19:36:07Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > [Here](https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/spycatcher/201208/dangerous-cult-leaders)’s a _Psychology Today_ article from 2012, well before Trump was running for president, by Joe Navarro, a 25-year veteran of the FBI, entitled “Dangerous Cult Leaders”. Here’s a quote from it: > > The article has a list, compiled by Navarro from his studies, of fifty typical traits of pathological cult leaders. By my counting, Trump displays around forty-five of the fifty traits. The accusation that he hits 45 out of 50 of the traits of a cult leader sounded implausible to me. So I clicked the link. Yup, that list of 50 traits is pretty accurate. And while Trump hasn’t physically isolated his followers, he has helped psychologically isolate them by teaching them to reject all media except propaganda that makes him look good. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/35 "2019-04-13T21:10:36Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > I can imagine in the final days, Trump/Fox News will begin a campaign distributing MAGA Kool Aid to the faithful. The pitch will be “Are you going to let these dirty Mexican invaders rape you and your family? It is much better to drink the MAGA Kool Aid and we can all go to MAGA Heaven together! We can rest in eternal peace together behind the beautiful Golden Walls of MAGA Heaven safe from the threat of vicious Mexicans and Muslims. Amen!” So you are an optimist? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/36 "2019-04-13T21:38:39Z")
People are reading too much into the “Trump cult.” Trump is popular with Republicans for the time being only because he is a sitting incumbent GOP president. The moment he leaves the White House, he becomes instantly dispensable. There are hundreds of demagogues who are better-looking, have a better-sounding voice, smarter, more articulate and eloquent, savvier, and better at playing the game than him. Republicans won’t hesitate to throw Trump under the bus the moment they have no need for him - he’s already said or done things that are objectionable to them, such as saying “Confiscate guns now, due process later” (something that Obama would have been fried for saying), etc. There are many Republicans and Trumpers who are already throwing George W. Bush under the bus, even though they were fiery supporters of Bush a decade and a half ago. The GOP will discard and move on from Trump in an instant once he’s no longer POTUS, like an airline passenger at TSA screening who finds that their nail clipper isn’t allowed in their carry-on. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/37 "2019-04-13T21:47:41Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > People are reading too much into the “Trump cult.” Trump is popular with Republicans for the time being only because he is a sitting incumbent GOP president. The moment he leaves the White House, he becomes instantly dispensable. There are hundreds of demagogues who are better-looking, have a better-sounding voice, smarter, more articulate and eloquent, savvier, and better at playing the game than him. Republicans won’t hesitate to throw Trump under the bus the moment they have no need for him - he’s already said or done things that are objectionable to them, such as saying “Confiscate guns now, due process later” (something that Obama would have been fried for saying), etc. There are many Republicans and Trumpers who are already throwing George W. Bush under the bus, even though they were fiery supporters of Bush a decade and a half ago. > The GOP will discard and move on from Trump in an instant once he’s no longer POTUS, like an airline passenger at TSA screening who finds that their nail clipper isn’t allowed in their carry-on. I agree with this. But what’s to say he won’t distribute the kool-aid while he’s still president? Hmmm? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/38 "2019-04-13T21:50:28Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > People are reading too much into the “Trump cult.” Trump is popular with Republicans for the time being only because he is a sitting incumbent GOP president. The moment he leaves the White House, he becomes instantly dispensable. There are hundreds of demagogues who are better-looking, have a better-sounding voice, smarter, more articulate and eloquent, savvier, and better at playing the game than him. Republicans won’t hesitate to throw Trump under the bus the moment they have no need for him - he’s already said or done things that are objectionable to them, such as saying “Confiscate guns now, due process later” (something that Obama would have been fried for saying), etc. There are many Republicans and Trumpers who are already throwing George W. Bush under the bus, even though they were fiery supporters of Bush a decade and a half ago. > The GOP will discard and move on from Trump in an instant once he’s no longer POTUS, like an airline passenger at TSA screening who finds that their nail clipper isn’t allowed in their carry-on. Of course the GOP will, but there are tons of Trump-lovers who aren’t GOP but vote for them as long as Trump tells them to. They believe what Trump tells them to believe. And right now, according to the numbers as I understand them, the GOP has no chance at all to win without them. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/39 "2019-04-13T22:02:32Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Of course the GOP will, but there are tons of Trump-lovers who aren’t GOP but vote for them as long as Trump tells them to. They believe what Trump tells them to believe. And right now, according to the numbers as I understand them, the GOP has no chance at all to win without them. This. Let’s not pretend that the GOP will revert back once Trump is gone. They now know how far they can go and what they can get away with. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463/40 "2019-04-13T22:04:52Z")
The sorts of people who will support and/or enable such authoritarian behaviour as Trumps will still be around. The GOP needs to be more than defeated in an election, they need to be shunned. They need to be rendered completely irrelevant to American politics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-go-all-jim-jones/832463.md?page=3)