He is a powerful speaker when he promises equality and justice with a dangerous persuasive influence that seems to pull in those who are vulnerable to his deception. There is a lot to be said about his charisma without moral boundaries. He demands unquestioned devotion and no room for betrayal. He is a leader who does not tolerate independent thinking or anyone who crosses that line to disagree with him. He denies racial accountability and demands social justice on his own terms. He is verbally abusive and treats women like they are second to his authoritarianism. He hates the media; however, he uses it to breed hate and contempt. Those who love him will protect his lies and refuse to accept that he is a poison addict who will lead them to their destruction. You may think that I am speaking about Donald Trump. No, I am talking about Jim Jones.
Just like with Jones, Trump has been very successful in achieving the devotion of his followers. They trust him even though his lies have been exposed time and time again. Trump has brainwashed his followers with fear and manipulation to be unconditionally loyal. Jones presented himself as a savior figure to so many vulnerable people who were desperate for love in their lives. They were reaching for someone to care. Jones promised them that he was their answer. All they had to do was follow him.
Trump said, “I am the only one who can fix it.” He promised the poor a better life. He opened his doors to the working class, who felt like the Democratic Party had abandoned them. He talked to the coal miners, and they jumped on the Trump Train to glory just like the weak followed Jim Jones to Jonestown. With Jones and Trump, the theme was the same………….” pick a side.” You can’t be one of us and be one of them. Jones convinced his cult that everyone outside of their compound was their enemies. He convinced his followers that he was a victim of a corrupt system, much like Trump claimed to be a victim of voter fraud.
When we experience things beyond the scope of our comprehension, we tend to tolerate questionable behavior because somewhere within us, we want to believe that there is some good reason for it. Perhaps some think that Trump will eventually come around to more normalized behavior and predictable actions. For many, the drama of Trump has had purely entertainment value. With sociopaths and malignant narcissists, however, we cannot waste time trying to figure out what’s going on in their heads. We tend to see danger only when something huge and terrible happens. Then we are forced to take a deeper look and salvage what we can.
Jones had to seek the approval of those people whom he saw as powerful to prove his own sense of importance to himself. His connections with them gave him an even wider sense of power. Similarly, Trump entered the White House with his own connections already established, but his ego was further inflated by questionable relations with Vladimir Putin of Russia. To Trump, this alliance meant that he could feel a level of personal power and grandiosity that could not be satisfied by tending to the duties of his position alone.
Jones was good at sowing the division by telling lies, pitting people against each other to create a constant narrative of opposition. He even turned against individuals in his most loyal and trusted inner circle. For Trump, this was evident in the way that he pitted his followers against anyone who crossed him, including those Republicans who wanted to move on and acknowledge that President Biden did win the election. Like Jones, if Trump was upset, everyone had to suffer. Trump created fear among his followers, particularly average working-class citizens, who became frightened that the country would go into a tailspin without him in power.
We have watched in real time how quickly Trump turns on his own if they are not willing to lie or uphold his deception. When Mitch McConnell denounced the violent attack on our Capitol, Trump called him a “dumb s.o.b.” When Vice President Mike Pence chose to fulfill his oath and certify Joe Biden as President, Trump stood back and watched as rioters had a hangman’s noose to hang the Vice President. Much like Washington, in Jonestown, if anyone disagreed with Jim Jones, they were either punished or shamed.
Donald Trump and Jim Jones are different in their personal backgrounds; however, because of their own need to feel significant, they share a lot of the same insecure qualities. In both cases, the followers are given permission, and even encouraged to act out, independent of laws and rules in society, especially if those actions counter criticisms and threats to the leader. Jones fostered a powerful autonomy as a group leader. He encouraged the idea of being different and going against the rules of society, even if it meant being deceptive and unethical. This is the same bag of goods that Trump has been selling to the American people since he rode down that elevator.
One thing is clear. We cannot sit back and try to make sense out of unstable behavior from the man who is the President of the United States. It is difficult to fully understand the danger of allowing such individuals to have power in our lives. Attention to the mental health of our leaders is imperative. Mental stability, diplomacy, compassion, a genuine concern for each citizen, and a willingness to be personally and professionally transparent are attributes that are what we have expected in our leaders. After our experiences with Jim Jones and Donald Trump, these are what we should demand. Lacking such attributes will only bring a deadly cost to our nation. Like Jim Jones, who murdered his own followers, when the day comes when Trump can no longer escape accountability for his many crimes, sociopathic behavior, he will take everyone down with him.
The lesson from Jonestown warns us that when devotion replaces reason, and loyalty replaces law, institutions crumble. It no longer matters if it’s in the jungle or Washington, D.C. A snake in the jungle of Guyana is just as deadly as a snake on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.