Did Donald Trump create a #MAGA utopia during his presidency? What’s the deal with QAnon? Is Trumpism a cult? Trigger warning: reality

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Links & Resources

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741 741

Domestic Violence Helpline: 1-800-799-7233

VictimConnect, a referral helpline for victims of crime: 1-855-484-2846

For veterans, Make The Connection

• Watch this video! It features a great breakdown of QAnon, an interview with cult expert Rick Ross, and tips on how to help someone out of QAnon or another cult.

• David Neiwert’s book Red Pill Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us
• Rick Alan Ross’ book Cults Inside Out
• Steven Hassan’s book The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control (Hassan is a former “Moonie” cult member turned cult expert)

• The ‘Shared Psychosis’ of Donald Trump and His Loyalists (Forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee explains the outgoing president’s pathological appeal and how to wean people from it.)
• A former QAnon believer answers all your questions about how the cult really works
• An eye-opening interview with a former QAnon believer
• r/QAnonCasualties, a Reddit board where people tell their stories of what QAnon cost them
• The psychological needs QAnon feeds
• What makes people believe in conspiracy theories?
• Why people latch on to conspiracy theories, according to science
• An Analysis of Trump Supporters Has Identified 5 Key Traits
• A game designer’s analysis of QAnon
• Teleological Thinking
• Hyperactive Agency Detection
• The Dunning-Kruger Effect

• The people who died in the Capitol attack
• USA Today’s timeline of Capitol Hill riot

• Biden inauguration leaves QAnon believers in disarray
• The QAnon 'Storm' Never Struck. Some Supporters Are Wavering, Others Steadfast
• QAnon Supporters Think Donald Trump Will Be Sworn in as President on March 4

• Vox’s timeline of Trump encouraging hate groups and political violence
• GQ's timeline of Trump corruption scandals
• Business Insider’s list of Trump’s biggest accomplishments and failures
• It can happen here: Latin America's lessons about autocrats unpunished
• Faulty US Covid-19 response meant 130,000 to 210,000 avoidable deaths, report finds

• The Conservative Cult of Victimhood
• The Belief That Trump Is a Messiah Is Rampant and Dangerous
• There’s a Term for What Happened at the Capitol This Week: ‘Whitelash’
• Mass Delusion in America: What I heard from insurrectionists on their march to the Capitol
• The Deep Story of Trumpism: Thinking about the Republican Party like a political psychiatrist

Written and produced by Anna Roberts

Burning palm tree artwork by Perry Vasquez

Intro music by Elliot Middleton