Trumpists

close Video Kurtz: Calling the GOP a 'cult' is creepily condescending 'MediaBuzz' host Howard Kurtz responds to the recent mainstream media trend of referring to the GOP and President Trump's followers as a "cult." The media are going cult-crazy. That is, a number of news outlets and commentators are having a grand time describing the Republican Party as a Trumpian "cult." Some are using comments by retiring GOP senator Bob Corker, who invoked the C-word, as a peg. But others had already been writing about the supposed Trump cult. Think for a moment about that word choice. It suggests something spooky and delusional. Anyone who would join a cult—meaning most Republican lawmakers and voters, in this context—must be rather mindless. Susceptible to strange practices and beliefs. Outside the mainstream. The dictionary defines cult as "a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies." Or "great veneration of a … [Read more...] about Why the media are acting like lemmings in warning of a Trump ‘cult’

close Video Kurtz: Why the Press is not the 'biggest enemy' 'MediaBuzz' host Howard Kurtz responds to President Trump's tweet calling the media the "country's biggest enemy." President Trump may have declared yesterday that there is "no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea," but that remains to be seen. The White House may insist there is no trade war with American allies—adviser Peter Navarro has apologized for his "special place in hell" slam at Justin Trudeau—but the outcome remains to be seen. But there is one thing that is crystal clear: Donald Trump, after nearly 17 months in office, now is the Republican Party. The latest evidence was the primary defeat of South Carolina congressman Mark Sanford, the former governor whose term was marred by a sex scandal after he was found to have snuck off with his Argentinian mistress. Sanford didn’t lose because of a Trump tweet with hours left in the voting (saying "he is better off in … [Read more...] about Trump slams press over Singapore as GOP embraces his praise for Kim

Rep. Mark Sanford’s stunning loss in the South Carolina primary – just hours after President Donald Trump took to Twitter to stick a dagger through his candidacy – proves the Republican Party has turned into a “Trumpist cult," Joe Scarborough said Wednesday morning. "Why don’t we just say [the GOP] has devolved into a cult? Primary voters in the Republican Party have devolved into a Trumpist cult,” said Scarborough, the co-host of MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" and a former Republican congressman in Florida. Hours before the polls closed Tuesday night, Trump issued a last-second tweet in support of Rep. Katie Arrington over incumbent Sanford, a staunch conservative who’d been critical of the commander in chief, once saying he "fanned the flames of intolerance" and calling on him to release his tax returns. "Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble. He is better off in Argentina. … [Read more...] about Joe Scarborough: With Sanford Loss, GOP is Now a ‘Trumpist Cult’