Political Cults

Defining Exit Ramps for Militia Members with Former Propagandist Oath Keeper Jason Van Tatenhove 

By /

“America right now needs some exit ramps,” Jason Van Tatenhove said as we discussed his former role as national media director for the Oath Keepers, a group known for its far-right anti-government militia. While Jason would ultimately decide to leave the group in 2016 due to increasing racism and Holocaust denial within their membership, the Oath Keepers would go on to participate in the United States Capitol January 6th attack, led by followers of Donald Trump. Jason eventually testified before a U.S. House Select Committee about his position in media propaganda for the organization. He described their attempts at paramilitary tactics, plans for insurrection, and his relationship with Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, convicted of seditious conspiracy and evidence tampering.  

Defining Exit Ramps for Militia Members with Former Propagandist Oath Keeper Jason Van Tatenhove  Read More

Navigating Journalistic Integrity in an Age of Misinformation with Anthony Davis 

By /

Anthony Davis is a British broadcaster, journalist, and voiceover artist. He was born in London and has been based in Los Angeles since 2017, where he works remotely from his home studio with networks worldwide. Since November 2021, his collaborations with the MeidasTouch media network, including the Five-Minute News, The Weekend Show, and America Uncovered, have exploded his reach across the US as a trusted voice in news commentary.  

In the UK, he hosted Drivetime on the Smooth FM network for a national audience of 6 million listeners. For almost a decade prior, his nightly news talk program on LBC radio was London’s most popular late show. Anthony has voiced the 2021 Emmy award-winning Nike’ You Can’t Stop Us’ commercial, racking up over 50 million views on YouTube in just three days and winning the coveted Film Grand Prix in Cannes for best commercial. Anthony created the daily morning podcast Five Minute News, for which he won a 2021 Communicator Award from The Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts in New York, a VEGA award for Best Host, a 2022 Gold MUSE award, and a 2023 W3 Gold award.

Navigating Journalistic Integrity in an Age of Misinformation with Anthony Davis  Read More

Breaking the Silence: Alva Johnson’s Journey as a Director in the 2016 Trump Campaign

By /

Legally released from an unenforceable NDA, the former 2016 campaign staffer discusses the cult-building tactics, Russian interference, and the who’s who of bad actors behind the scenes of the Trump campaign.  

Alva Johnson, a former large-scale event producer, found herself thrust into the midst of a presidential campaign after taking on what she thought was a short gig to assist with coordinating one rally. The massive success of that one rally eventually led to Alva becoming deeply involved in the Trump Campaign in 2015 and 2016.

Breaking the Silence: Alva Johnson’s Journey as a Director in the 2016 Trump Campaign Read More

Exiting the Cult of Trump with #Jan6er Pam Hemphill 

By /

This week the Influence Continuum podcast hosts Pam Hemphill, a 70-year-old cancer survivor from Idaho. Pam has been in the news speaking out because of her involvement in the January 6th assault on the Capitol. Pam is now a vocal detractor of the cult of Trump. She’s been a fan of the podcast and of Freedom of Mind in general and joined us to discuss how her life changed because of Trump. She is a retired Substance Abuse Counselor who says she has 44 years in recovery. She served a 60-day sentence for her involvement in the attack, which former President Trump encouraged. After serving her sentence in federal prison, Ms. Hemphill learned information contradicting the narrative she had believed was truthful. That interaction with facts inspired her to continue seeking information not circulated in her previous media sources. For several months, Pam has been hosting Twitter Spaces to “Stop the Spin” and push back against the gaslighting and lies of January 6th defendants and defenders. Ms. Hemphill says she now realizes she was part of a cult and is on a mission to help others recognize what happened to them so they may reevaluate their prior beliefs. 

Exiting the Cult of Trump with #Jan6er Pam Hemphill  Read More

Country Over Party: An Interview With Denver Riggleman 

By /

In an increasingly polarized society, our country needs compassion and critical thinking more than ever. Isolation due to social media and the work of political demagogues can keep us from exploring alternate perspectives. Being taken in by these forces does not make you stupid or weak. However, resistance can reflect intelligence and strength of will. We learn about this strength in Denver Riggleman’s book The Breach: The Untold Story of the Investigation into January 6th. Denver joined us on the podcast to discuss the book, his career in the military and as a congressman, and how to battle black-and-white thinking in politics. 

Country Over Party: An Interview With Denver Riggleman  Read More

QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross: Christianity and Conspiracy Theories with Dr. Michael Austin and Dr. Gregory Bock 

By /

In today’s digital age, disinformation, and propaganda can spread at alarming speeds, often inciting fear and confusion and causing instability within social, political, and religious circles. Suppose individuals are unaware of undue influence and the tactics used in information warfare, intentionally devised to instill distrust in our institutions. In that case, they can easily become entangled in harmful conspiracy theories. 

QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross: Christianity and Conspiracy Theories with Dr. Michael Austin and Dr. Gregory Bock  Read More

January 6 Violent Coup Attempt: Two Years Later 

By /

On January 6, 2021, the seat of our federal government and the heart of our American democracy came under siege. Now, two years on, there is the opportunity to examine developments since the attack on the Capital and to look at what can be done about it. I was honored to be invited to speak about this at the New York Society for Ethical Culture this January 2023. The title of my talk was ‘Two Years After the Violent Coup Attempt.’ 

In my talk, I discussed some of the forces behind the insurrection attempt. Based on typical cult leader behavior, I predicted in 2019 that Trump would never voluntarily cede power and would attempt to create as much chaos and damage as possible. In my book The Cult of Trump, I also warned that his followers would become violent.  

Whenever I hear about a tragedy or destructive event, like the Jonestown massacre or the January 6 coup attempt, my first thought is always – I could have done that. When I was in the Moon cult, I would have obeyed any order from Sun Myung Moon, including breaking the law. But, when someone is under mind control, their real self, values, and beliefs are taken over by a new cult identity; they are programmed into a different reality. So, it is crucial to understand how undue influence works and how to protect ourselves and others.

January 6 Violent Coup Attempt: Two Years Later  Read More

Former Trump Attorney Michael Cohen on His Experience in The Cult of Trump 

By /

Michael Cohen is a two-time New York Times best-selling author, first with his book Disloyal: A Memoir, and now with his latest book Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the Department of Justice Against His Critics. Cohen is famous for being the former attorney and personal ‘fixer’ for Donald Trump (2006-2018) and has testified for congress as well as New York’s Attorney General’s office and confessed he was in “The Cult of Trump.” I wrote about him in my book, and he is a courageous whistle-blower who, like me, has devoted an enormous amount of time and effort to shedding light on the disgraced and twice impeached former president.

Former Trump Attorney Michael Cohen on His Experience in The Cult of Trump  Read More

Lev Parnas, Michael Cohen, Omarosa Manigault Newman, George Conway, Anthony Scaramucci, Rick Wilson and Others: Trump is a Cult Leader

By /

Lev Parnas, during his interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, described himself as waking up from a cult and Donald Trump like a “cult leader.” Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney for twelve years, expressed similar thoughts and feelings. Omarosa Manigault Newman, in her book Unhinged, described leaving the cult of Trumpworld. George Conway, Republican attorney and advisor to The Lincoln Project, has repeatedly described Trump as a mentally unfit narcissist and said his wife, Kellyanne Conway, was in a cult. Rick Wilson referred to the GOP as having been turned into a cult, lorded over by Trump. Wilson messaged me that he had read my book and said it was fantastic. Wilson has a new book out: Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump–And Democrats from Themselves. Anthony Scaramucci was one of the first brave Republicans to speak out about the Cult of Trump. He likened Trump to being like “Jim Jones,” that he thought the GOP needing deprogramming, and called my book “brilliant” and “required reading.” Of course, Brian Stelter of CNN’s Reliable Sources did a 35 minute podcast interview with me and then did a 4 minute segment on The Cult of Trump. This prompted a Tucker Carlson segment that then got spread like wildfire among right media sources like Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh and others.

Lev Parnas, Michael Cohen, Omarosa Manigault Newman, George Conway, Anthony Scaramucci, Rick Wilson and Others: Trump is a Cult Leader Read More