'I alone am the way': Expert explains whether Trump's MAGA is a true cult

When President Donald Trump met with his Cabinet the day after reaching the 100-day milestone last month, members took turns excessively praising him — prompting many commentators to describe his apparent need for constant approval as “cult-like” behavior.

However, in a Sunday article for Salon, journalist and podcast host Jonathan Hirsch offered a different take, drawing on his own childhood experience growing up in a cult.

Hirsch recalled growing up in a Northern California commune devoted to Franklin Jones, a self-proclaimed divine guru who led the group Adidam and claimed, “I alone am the way.” Immersed in the cult from childhood — his parents were even part of Jones’ inner circle. The author experienced its teachings and inner workings firsthand.

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He said he heard Trump use the same words, "I alone," which reminded him of the years he "spent as a child under the specter of an authoritarian spiritual figure."

"As a child, I was led to believe that one man — in our case, an ordinary-looking guy from Jamaica, Queens, New York, exactly the same neighborhood where Donald Trump was born and raised — was in fact … God. The startling parallel between these two men, and that phrase in particular, remains intensely resonant for me," Hirsch wrote.

He argued that the word "cult” now means "so many things that I’m no longer sure it means anything at all."

"And no modern public figure is more often described as a cult leader than our duly elected president. A few months into his chaotic second term, the question of whether or not the movement that he has started is effectively a cult has become a live one once again. To appreciate how we got here, we need to understand the word itself, and how it caught fire in popular culture," the author wrote.

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Hirsch argued that while Trump craves loyalty and thrives on the devotion of his supporters, his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement has not fully crossed into cult territory. He added that a true cult is led by a narcissistic leader who demands total control, but the public still retains some power.

"For now, we still have a choice," he said.