The word “deprogramming” is typically used in connection with extremist religious cults such as the Unification Church, the Tony & Susan Alamo Christian Foundation or Jim Jones’ the People’s Temple, but cults can be political as well — for example, the QAnon movement. Political science expert Brian Klaas, in a Washington Post op-ed published on January 25, lays out some reasons why it is so difficult to “deprogram” Americans who have embraced far-right political cults and outlandish conspiracy theories.
“For the past four years, the United States was governed by a conspiracy theorist in chief,” explains Klaas, who teaches global politics at University College London. “Whether by retweeting QAnon accounts from the Oval Office or painting himself as the victim of shadowy ‘deep state’ plots at rallies, President Donald Trump injected the toxin of baseless conspiratorial thinking straight into America’s political bloodstream. On January 6, America saw how far that venom had spread as a ragtag group of militias, racist extremists and flag-waving disciples of Trumpism stormed the Capitol.”
The January 6 “insurrectionists,” Klaas adds, had certain things in common: they were “unified by their support for Trump” and were also “conspiracy theorists.” Continue reading.