Republicans Are Not Beating the Cult Allegations This Week

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When historians look back on the MAGA movement, we imagine that they will be puzzled by how Donald Trump became its leader and not somebody who actually espoused, or even believed in, its purported values. Then again, many other cults and quasi-religious groups have been led by charlatans, so maybe this isn’t all that surprising.

And there is little doubt that this is what the modern GOP has become, as this week has shown once again.

First of all, there is the big picture: With the midterms looming, it is fascinating that Republicans feel compelled to stick with Trump instead of trying to put some daylight between themselves and a historically unpopular commander-in-chief.

The president’s approval rating in some polls has now dipped to 30 percent and, still, virtually all GOP candidates are afraid to cross him because incurring “Dear Leader’s” wrath, or upsetting his most fervent supporters, comes with a higher political cost than, for example, continuing to back a pointless war Americans are rightfully blaming for soaring gasoline costs and record diesel prices that make just about everything more expensive.

As a result, unless Trump manages to rig the midterms in some unprecedented (and desperate) manner, the party is going to suffer massive losses in six weeks. More than likely, those could be mitigated if only Republicans felt free to offer at least mild criticism of some of the president’s most detested policies.

But that’s not an option. In fact, no type of dissent is.

This was evidenced in the confirmation hearing for Heidi Overton on Thursday. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) repeatedly asked the president’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) whether Trump was right in claiming that Americans now pay the lowest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

.@SenSanders presses FDA commissioner Heidi Overton on President Trump's claim that he got prescription drugs to lowest prices in the world:

Sanders: "You just told us you're gonna stand up to him so…"

Overton: "Prescription drug prices have gone down by three percent." pic.twitter.com/8mwJ4E2ryG

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 24, 2026

In reality, even though those prices have gone down 3.1 percent over the past year, they are generally significantly higher than in peer nations.

This is well known, and there is no doubt that Overton is aware of the facts.

However, it is verboten to ever say that the president is wrong. We have seen this time and again in confirmation hearings where nominees for administration posts or judgeships have refused to say outright that Trump lost the 2020 election.

And that is perhaps the most troubling aspect of the cult.

If officials feel as though they have to agree with whatever the president says, no matter how dumb or apparently incorrect it is, then nobody is going to keep him from making incredibly bad decisions, like starting a war with Iran or implementing his tariffs.

Finally, there is this video that has been airing on Fox News and would make even Leni Riefenstahl say, “Guys, this seems a little over the top.”

A taxpayer-funded Dear Leader campaign ad. "Love me, love me, love me…" "Paid for by the US Government." pic.twitter.com/NaQrWh6aCu

— Tom Hoefling (@TomHoefling) September 24, 2026

The 30-second propaganda spot, which you have to watch to fully appreciate how insane it is, features a lot of Trump set against the music of the song “Love Me” by JMSN (which was used without permission).

Now, if you are a normal person, you may ask yourself: Who in the world is going to pay for something like this, and who would put it together?

The answer to that first question is that you, the American taxpayer, is footing the bill since the video states that it was paid for by the US government. As for the second question, we assume that it is somebody who may have violated the law, as Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, pointed out.

“This may be felony criminal theft and conversion of government property for political campaign purposes,” he noted. “It is a Hatch Act violation for any government employees who worked on it or used government resources to make it. It is blatantly unethical under numerous federal ethics provisions proscribing the use of government resources for political campaigns.”

What we do know for sure is that it is worthy of a cult leader who likes to see himself on TV while he is dragging down the fortunes of his party.