I read your article, then left and went on to read others and write my own, but my thoughts kept coming back here.

The more I thought about it, the more I realised that Trumpism is also a cult. The Game happens online and at rallies, where non-believers are vilified and bullied in exactly the same manner, until built up to a dangerous crescendo. Can the authorities deprogram whole swathes of these people?

I always thought that the fact that only supporters and believers were allowed at his rallies was strange for a political rally, where usually the politician or public speaker learns to handle hecklers masterfully, like Obama always did. Allowing them to show themselves up rather than others to do it.

The more I read about this cult, the more I can associate it with the 'why' so many followed him.

Maybe calling them 'deplorable' was a mistake early on because it gave them an identity to get behind, but they clearly were just that. Maybe it would have been better to get a mass deprogramming going, but hopefully now he doesn't have so much of the energy of publicity and social media brainwashing them they will go away and finally free their minds.