Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Congresswoman Who Survived Jonestown Massacre Likens Trump to Cult Leader Jim Jones

Congresswoman Who Survived Jonestown Massacre Likens Trump to Cult Leader Jim Jones
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images // Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump's reign in the White House saw him tell over 30 thousand lies, undergo two impeachments, refuse any and all attempts at accountability, and retaliate against anyone who expressed even a sliver of doubt in his supremacy, regardless of party.

Yet Trump continues to enjoy near unanimous approval from Republican voters and near-unconditional capitulation from almost every Republican elected official at the federal and state levels.


This unwavering devotion led Trump's supporters to call for the execution of his Vice President, Mike Pence, for not throwing out free and fair election results. It's what led his supporters to storm the Capitol and beat police officers. It's what led them to believe the 2020 election was "stolen" despite constant refutation from courts, experts, and Trump's own appointed officials.

Many of Trump's supporters have also resisted basic public safety guidelines in the wake of a pandemic that's killed nearly 600 thousand people. This is in no small part due to the former President's vocal opposition to mask wearing and temporary shutdowns of non-essential businesses, as well as far-right media's disinformation regarding vaccines.

It's become become a confounding phenomenon of the Trump era: his ability to degrade trust in every person and entity, with his words being the only ones that can be trusted.

That's why legions of people have likened him to a cult leader.

Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier of California knows a thing or two about cults.

In the 1970s, Speier was a staffer for Congressman Leo Ryan. She accompanied him to Jonestown, Guyana to investigate the human rights abuses of Jim Jones, the infamous leader of the Peoples Temple cult.

As Speier, Ryan, and the rest of his team began to board the plane to leave Jonestown, they were ambushed by members of the Peoples Temple. Congressman Ryan was murdered. Speier was shot five times while taking cover behind the wheels of the airplane, and waited nearly 24 hours for assistance. The very same day, Peoples Cult members drank poison Flavor-Aid in a mass murder-suicide that left nearly a thousand cult members dead.

So Speier wasn't being flippant when she compared Trump to Jones in a recent interview with CNN's Brian Stelter.

Watch below.

Speier said:

"There's no question that you could compare Jim Jones as a charismatic leader who would bring his congregation together, force them to do things that were illegal, and then took 900 of them into the jungles of Guyana where, over the course of time, he then convinced them that they should die. ... So you look at Donald Trump, charismatic leader, who was able to continue to talk in terms that appeal to those who are disaffected, disillusioned, and who were looking for something."

As harsh as the comparison may seem, people widely agreed with the Congresswoman.






That Speier survived the massacre made the comparison all the more valid.



More from People/donald-trump

Brad Pitt
Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images

Brad Pitt Opens Up About Going To Alcoholics Anonymous Amid 'Difficult' Split From Angelina Jolie

In 2016, actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt officially separated after 12 years together, with two of those years spent as husband and wife.

The split came after an inflight incident that forced the private plane Pitt, Jolie, and their children were traveling on to make an unscheduled landing and prompted an FBI investigation. Pitt later shared that he was struggling with an alcohol addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Rod Stewart; Donald Trump
Ethan Miller/Getty Images; Carlos Barria - Pool/Getty Images

Rod Stewart Explains Why He's No Longer Friends With Trump In Blistering Interview

Singer Sir Rod Stewart and MAGA Republican President Donald Trump might seem like an odd pairing, but the two were once good friends, according to the Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

And they actually have several things in common.

Keep ReadingShow less
Thomas Massie; Donald Trump
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Suzanne Plunkett/Pool/Getty Images

GOP Rep. Offers Snarky Clapback After Trump Kicks Him Out Of MAGA For Criticizing Iran Attack

Kentucky Republican Representative Massie offered a snarky response after President Donald Trump said "MAGA doesn't want him" following Massie's criticism of Trump's unilateral decision to bomb Iran and the spending package presented in the "Big Beautiful Bill."

Massie spoke out following Trump's decision to authorize a series of intense U.S. air and submarine strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities, amid ongoing uncertainty about the status of Tehran’s nuclear program. The threat of a wider conflict in the Middle East is on everyone's minds as tensions between Iran and Israel—now openly aided by the U.S.—intensify.

Keep ReadingShow less
Las Vegas sign
welcome to fabulous las vegas nevada signage

People Reveal The Times 'What Happens In Vegas' Did Not Stay In Vegas

"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"...

The age-old slogan encourages visitors to put their fears and inhibitions to the side while indulging in all that "Sin City" has to offer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene; Donald Trump
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

MTG Goes Off On Trump Over Iran Attack—And Warns Of What Could Happen Next

Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized President Donald Trump in a lengthy post on X following his unilateral decision to bomb Iran over the weekend.

Greene is one of the most devout MAGA adherents in Congress, so her policy split is rare but shows just how deeply Trump has angered his own base since he authorized a series of intense U.S. air and submarine strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities, amid ongoing uncertainty about the status of Tehran’s nuclear program

Keep ReadingShow less