Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier of California, who survived an attack by gunman who were members of the People’s Temple cult led by Jim Jones, said in an interview with The Guardian that Donald Trump uses rhetoric reminiscent of a cult leader.
“Jim Jones was a religious cult leader, Donald Trump is a political cult leader,” Speier told the Guardian. “As a victim of violence and of a cult leader, I am sensitive to conduct that smacks of that. We have got to be wary of anyone who can have such control over people that they lose their ability to think independently.”
Shot five times and left for dead on a dirt runway in Guyana, Speier draws parallels between Jones and Trump in that they have fervent followers who would do anything their leaders told them to do. In Trump’s case, this includes white nationalists and white supremacists, many of whom are veterans of the US armed forces.
“I thought it was urgent a year ago when I held a hearing on violent extremism in the military and was astonished at the number of service members who are recruited in part because of their training to these extremist groups,” Speier said.