Trump supporters waiting for the arrival of President Donald J. Trump on Thursday 01/30/2020 at his Keep America Great Again rally in Des Moines, Iowa. (Shutterstock.com)
An expert on cults told CNN on Tuesday that many Trump supporters have indeed been indoctrinated into a cult -- but he said that there are ways they can eventually be brought back to reality.
Steven Hassan, a former member of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church cult, told CNN host Alisyn Camerota about the ways many Trump supporters had been "deceptively recruited by an authoritarian political cult" surrounding President Donald Trump.
Hassan explained how it is that so many Trump fans have crossed the line from supporting a political leader into being cult members.
"In studying all the thought reform, brainwashing models, I developed a... model of authoritarian control and it basically talks about controlling behavior, information, thoughts, and emotions to create a new identity that's dependent and obedient," he explained. "And this is a radical personality change in the mental health literature. In the [American Psychological Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders], it's called a 'dissociative disorder.'"
Hassan then advised CNN viewers that they needed to be understanding with Trump cult members and advised giving them "respect, kindness and warmth" instead of harshly criticizing them for being indoctrinated.
Watch the video below.
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