An Open Letter from Jim Jones, Leader of the People’s Temple, to MAGA Cultists
How 900 Deaths, Cyanide Kool-Aid, and a Jungle Compound Pale in Comparison to Your Fearless Leader's Modern Cult Mastery
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Dear MAGA Faithful,
Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Jim Jones, founder and leader of the People’s Temple—once a burgeoning movement of zealots who hung on my every word, much like yourselves. My name has become synonymous with devotion, persuasion, and, admittedly, the unfortunate origin of the phrase “drink the Kool-Aid.” Yes, I’m that guy! Though it wasn’t technically Kool-Aid—we’ll let the brand confusion slide for now. Over 900 of my loyal followers met their end in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978, persuaded by my vision of communal utopia and my warnings of a sinister “other” threatening our way of life. Sound familiar? Your chants of “enemies of the people” are louder versions of my warnings about infiltrators—amped up with a social media megaphone I could never have dreamed of.
From my afterlife perch, I’ve been watching your movement with a mix of admiration and envy. Your leader is good—really good. When Donald Trump says he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose support, I’m not horrified; I’m impressed. That’s not just a bold claim—that’s the gold standard for cult leadership. And believe me, I know a thing or two about control. You, MAGA disciples, have elevated the art of cultic devotion to a level I could only dream of. Red hats in lieu of robes, raucous rallies instead of temple sermons, and a leader whose grasp on reality makes my messianic complex look quaint. Truly, you’ve turned America into your Jonestown—minus the jungle, but with the benefit of cable news and hashtags.
Your fearless leader—a twice-impeached, thrice-indicted real estate failure turned demagogue—has achieved something I never managed: a base so fervent that not even incontrovertible facts, daily legal bombshells, or revelations of corruption can sway their faith. What makes it truly impressive is the scale. I built a following of a few thousand. Trump’s got tens of millions eating out of his hand, ready to defend him no matter what. Even when he’s caught red-handed—documents stuffed in bathrooms, lies unraveling daily—it doesn’t matter. He says, ‘Witch hunt,’ and you believe it. My followers believed I could save them from an impending apocalypse. Yours believe their chosen one can turn back the clock to a mythical “great” America. It’s all about selling a vision, and he’s nailed it.
I see echoes of my greatest hits in your devotion, but you’ve turned them into an entire Broadway production. When your leader proclaims that only he can solve the nation’s problems, I hear my own sermons. When he labels dissenters as enemies of the people, I’m reminded of my warnings about infiltrators in Jonestown. But you’ve amplified the script, complete with chants and merchandise to match. And your leader’s ability to spin investigations and trials as martyrdom? Chef’s kiss.
But where I faltered, MAGA thrives. My followers required isolation in a remote jungle to maintain their loyalty. Your movement flourishes in the open, buoyed by 24/7 media coverage and the intoxicating allure of social media echo chambers. Your hashtags, memes, and viral chants act as digital White Nights—named for the staged crises I orchestrated in Jonestown. I fabricated emergencies, warning my followers that enemies were closing in. Through fear and rehearsed sacrifice, I demanded absolute loyalty. I had to spin elaborate tales of government persecution to keep my flock in line. Your leader, though, is a maestro, convincing millions that justice itself is a witch hunt—all from the comfort of his Mar-a-Lago throne. And with his latest calls to defund the FBI and dismantle the Department of Justice? Inspired. While I had to physically isolate my followers to hold their devotion, your movement amplifies its reach and fervor in the infinite jungle of the digital age.
The Kool-Aid metaphor might be a touch overdone, but it’s hard to resist. You’ve managed to create a cocktail of blind loyalty, fear-mongering, and a persecution complex so potent it makes my cyanide concoction seem tame by comparison. I used cyanide. He uses division, fear, and lies—a slow, potent poison that keeps you angry, loyal, and dependent. The endgame, though, is the same: total control. And he doesn’t even have to hide it! When he jokes about your willingness to die for him, you laugh and cheer. I had to work harder to get that kind of devotion. And your commitment? Unwavering. Indictments are shrugged off as badges of honor. Lies are recast as “truths the media doesn’t want you to hear.” Facts, as your leader says, are negotiable.
What truly impresses me is how you’ve institutionalized the art of public adoration. The chants of “Lock her up!” and “Drain the swamp!” are less political rallying cries and more hypnotic mantras, a testament to your collective discipline. Your synchronized hand-raising pledges of allegiance to the leader—I could only dream of such overt displays of submission. And the rallies! They’re not just gatherings; they’re sacred pilgrimages, each one an orgy of affirmation where no fact, no indictment, no reality can penetrate the bubble of shared belief.
MAGA, you epitomize the essence of a cult: unquestioning devotion to a singular figure, an us-versus-them mentality, and an ironclad belief in your own righteousness. And let’s not forget the merchandising. I mean, the red hats alone are a stroke of genius. If I’d had the foresight to slap “Make Jonestown Great Again” on some merch, who knows where we’d be? Imagine branded cyanide packets—dark, but effective.
As a connoisseur of cult leadership, I tip my hat (alas, not red) to your movement. You’ve taken the principles of mass manipulation, fear-based loyalty, and identity politics to heights that make my efforts look like amateur hour. Your leader’s latest call to investigate prosecutors as political enemies—brilliant. Even I never dared to so openly declare war on the system itself while painting myself as its savior. And his ability to use ongoing trials as fundraising windfalls? Utterly masterful. While my People’s Temple is a tragic footnote in history, MAGA is rewriting the playbook in real-time.
So carry on, MAGA faithful. Wave those flags, chant those slogans, and believe, with all your heart, that you alone hold the keys to salvation. But remember, even the strongest cults have expiration dates—when the truth becomes too loud to ignore. Just as my reign ended in tragedy, history may yet reveal the limits of even the most zealous devotion. History has a way of catching up to us all.
With begrudging admiration and a touch of envy,
Jim Jones
P.S. to the MAGA Crowd: Say what you will about me, but at least I provided the Kool-Aid. Your guy just sells you the cups and tells you to fill them yourselves—genius, really.
Part 2: In all seriousness…
A Sobering Warning from A Jonestown Survivor
Jackie Speier, a survivor of the Jonestown massacre and former congresswoman, has spent decades trying to warn the world about the dangers of unchecked power, blind loyalty, and charismatic manipulation. In Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown, she shares a harrowing account of nearly dying under the rule of Jim Jones—a man she now sees reflected in Donald Trump.
“Cult leaders have a pattern,” Speier explains. “They’re charismatic, paranoid, megalomaniac. Over time, they control their followers through physical, mental, and emotional abuse, leaving them unable to think independently. It’s not about policy; it’s about devotion. These leaders make you believe that they—and only they—have the answers. That’s when critical thinking stops and blind obedience begins.”
Jones embodied this pattern to a horrifying degree. He ingratiated himself with local politicians, promising votes in exchange for turning a blind eye to the growing abuses within his Peoples Temple. “When the alarms went off, people looked the other way,” Speier recounts. His followers abandoned their families, surrendered their possessions, and followed him to a jungle where he promised a utopia. What they found instead was terror and coercion. When Congressman Leo Ryan arrived to investigate, Jones’ henchmen murdered him and four others. The next day, under threat of violence, 909 people—including children—were forced to drink cyanide-laced Flavor Aid.
Speier sees eerie similarities in Trump’s rise and the loyalty he commands from his base. “I said he was a cult leader in 2016,” she states. “He has all the trappings. He’s charismatic. He’s megalomaniac. He’s paranoid. Fear is their most powerful weapon. They tell you that without them, the world will collapse—that you’ll be left defenseless against enemies they’ve invented. That makes for a toxic soup.”
Consider Trump’s behavior: He demands absolute loyalty, demonizes dissent, and thrives on creating enemies—real or imagined. His rallies, filled with chants of “Lock her up” or “Build the wall,” echo the same mob mentality Jones cultivated in Jonestown. Trump’s casual remarks, like joking about his followers’ willingness to die for him, mirror the dark humor Jones used to test the limits of his control. “Cult leaders promise freedom, but what they deliver is bondage. They take your choices, your voice, your ability to see the world as it is,” Speier warns.
“At a Trump rally, someone said, ‘He could kill someone at the White House, and I’d still support him,’” Speier recalls. “That’s the kind of absolute control that a cult leader mesmerizes followers to follow. They claim they’re under attack to justify extreme actions. The ‘us vs. them’ mentality becomes the rallying cry for all kinds of abuses.”
Speier draws a direct line from Jonestown to January 6. As a congresswoman, she experienced firsthand the violence Trump incited. “I was lying on the floor of the House gallery when I heard a gunshot,” she recounts. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, I survived the jungles of Guyana, and now I’m going to die in this tabernacle of democracy.’”
The lesson from Jonestown, she argues, is one of complicity. “The alarms were there, but people looked the other way,” she says. “The signs were there long before the massacre. People saw Jones’s control, his paranoia, his abuse of power, but they said, ‘It’s not my problem.’ By the time it became everyone’s problem, it was too late.” In Trump’s case, the alarms are deafening: efforts to overturn elections, foment violence, and use fear as a tool to divide. “It’s a toxic soup that we may be forced to deal with once again,” she warns.
The Takeaway: Jackie Speier’s message to MAGA disciples is clear: Beware of leaders who demand blind loyalty and sow division. “Freedom doesn’t come from loyalty to a single man. It comes from holding all leaders accountable—before it’s too late.” Cult leaders thrive on fear and manipulation, and their promises of salvation are always a lie. “No religion—or political movement—is above the law,” Speier says. And no leader is worth sacrificing your values—or your life—for.
The question for MAGA isn’t whether they see the parallel; it’s whether they’ll act before it’s too late.
Part 3: No, really, I’m being serious.
What Makes Trump a Cult Leader?
Trump ticks all the cult leader boxes: charisma, an unshakable ego, and a knack for exploiting fear. Steven Hassan, a leading expert on cults and mind control, lays this out in his book, The Cult of Trump. A former member of the Moonies (Unification Church), Hassan has dedicated decades to studying how cults operate and how leaders manipulate their followers. He frames Trump as a modern-day demagogue, crafting a mythology where he’s the only one who can save us—from what, exactly? Well, that’s irrelevant. The point is he’s the hero of the story, and everyone else is the villain.
This myth-building isn’t harmless bravado—it’s weaponized manipulation. Drawing on his years of research, Hassan explains that Trump employs classic cult tactics to secure loyalty, silence dissent, and isolate his base from reality. Let’s break it down.
The BITE Model: How Trump Controls His Base
Hassan’s BITE model—Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control—offers a framework for understanding Trump’s cult-like grip. Here’s how it plays out in MAGA world:
Behavior Control: Trump encourages behaviors that reinforce group identity. Attending rallies, boycotting “woke” brands, and chanting slogans aren’t just actions—they’re rituals. They foster a sense of belonging while isolating the faithful from the “other.”
Information Control: From the get-go, Trump labeled any critical media as “fake news,” effectively cutting off his base from independent thought. He directs followers to his approved channels—Fox News, Truth Social—where he controls the narrative.
Thought Control: Repetition is Trump’s secret sauce. “Make America Great Again,” “Build the Wall,” and “Stop the Steal” aren’t just slogans—they’re thought-terminating clichés. They short-circuit critical thinking and reinforce tribal loyalty.
Emotional Control: Fear is Trump’s favorite tool. Fear of immigrants, fear of socialism, fear of America’s decline. Pair that with anger at scapegoats—Hillary, Obama, Biden, Harris, the Deep State—and you’ve got an emotional cocktail that keeps his base agitated and obedient.
Why Do People Fall for It?
Hassan argues that Trump’s supporters aren’t simply dupes—they’re human. Vulnerable, scared, and searching for answers in a chaotic world. Trump offers them simple solutions to complex problems, served with a side of grievance and identity politics.
Economic Despair: Many Trump voters feel left behind by globalization and automation. Trump gives them someone to blame (China, immigrants) and a hero to follow (himself), ignoring the reality that his tax cuts for the wealthy, trade wars (wait'll they get a load of tariffs!), and hollow promises on manufacturing have often deepened their struggles.
Religious Manipulation: Trump’s unholy alliance with evangelical leaders isn’t accidental. By posing as a defender of “Christian values”—despite a personal life resembling a biblical cautionary tale and rhetoric and policies that mock Christ’s teachings—he secures the loyalty of religious voters who see him as a flawed but chosen vessel.
MAGA as Modern Cult
Hassan doesn’t shy away from comparing Trump’s movement to infamous cults. Jim Jones, David Koresh, Sun Myung Moon—they all operated with the same tools: fear, charisma, and the promise of salvation. The difference? Trump’s stage is global, and his reach is amplified by the megaphone of social media.
His control isn’t totalitarian in the Orwellian sense—it’s more Huxleyan, where people willingly embrace the illusion, convinced they’ve made the choice themselves. The result? A base that sees Trump as infallible, immune to facts, logic, or even their own interests.
How Do We Break the Spell?
Hassan’s message isn’t just a diagnosis—it’s a prescription. To dismantle the cult of Trump, he offers tools for engagement that focus on building bridges rather than widening divides:
Empathy Over Mockery: Laughing at MAGA hats or ridiculing their beliefs might feel satisfying, but it won’t change minds. Instead, understanding why people fall for Trump—and addressing the fears and vulnerabilities driving their loyalty—is far more effective. Empathy opens the door to connection.
Education as Resistance: Cults thrive on ignorance. Media literacy, critical thinking, and access to credible information are the antidotes. The more people understand how manipulation works, the harder it is for them to fall prey to it.
Conversation, Not Confrontation: Trump’s followers won’t snap out of it through shame or force. Open, respectful dialogue can plant seeds of doubt and encourage critical thinking. Change happens when people feel heard, not attacked.
The High Cost of Blind Loyalty: A Warning to MAGA
MAGA is not a political movement—it’s a cult, thriving on fear, division, and the systematic erosion of truth. Like Jim Jones before him, Trump has mastered the art of manipulating his followers with a poisonous cocktail of grievance and blind loyalty. The results are as predictable as they are dangerous: fractured communities, emboldened extremism, and a democracy teetering on the brink.
But here’s the hard truth: no cult survives without its followers. Trump’s power is not inherent—it’s granted by those willing to abandon critical thought and hand him control. By excusing his lies, ignoring his crimes, and worshipping his fabricated martyrdom, his supporters are complicit in their own manipulation. They aren’t just victims—they’re enablers of a dangerous demagogue who thrives on their unwavering devotion.
History’s warnings are deafening: Blind loyalty leads only to betrayal and ruin. The Jonestown massacre, the rise of authoritarian regimes, and now MAGA—each proves the same point. The endgame is always destruction, not salvation. The question is whether MAGA disciples will choose to see the truth before they sacrifice everything, including their own dignity and agency.
To those still enthralled: Stop waiting for someone to save you. Start saving yourself. Trump’s promise of greatness is a hollow lie, designed to keep you angry, loyal, and blind. Reclaim your independence, demand accountability, and remember that democracy requires critical thinking, not obedience.
It’s time to ask yourself: How much more of your life, your freedom, and your integrity are you willing to give to a man who has given you nothing but division and deceit? The cost of blind devotion is too high—and the bill is coming due.
If you enjoyed this article, please share, subscribe (a paid subscription would be amazing!), and tap the Buy Me a Coffee button ☕. Your support keeps me fueled to call out the corrupt and complicit.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the companion piece to this article, where I delve into Trump’s tactics and their unsettling parallels to those of another infamous cult leader:
An Open Letter from Charles Manson to Donald Trump
Congratulations on Out-Crazying Me: How You Turned My Cult Playbook Into a National Spectacle
Resources and Recommended Readings:
"The Cult of Trump" - Steven Hassan (2019)
"Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown" - Jackie Speier (2020)
"Escape: My Life After Hiding in Plain Sight with the FLDS" - Carolyn Jessop (2007)
"American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump" - Tim Alberta (2019)
"Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland" - Jonathan M. Metzl (2019)
"Cults: Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them" - Max Cutler (2022)
"Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of " - Anne Applebaum (2020)
"Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right" - Jane Mayer (2016)
This collection provides a mix of analyses on cult dynamics, authoritarianism, and the sociopolitical factors that enable figures like Jim Jones and Donald Trump to amass fervent followings.
Outstanding--nailed it. (I would be a paying subscriber, if I could afford to be. Why doesn't anyone on substack offer a senior discount?)
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