Joe Biden: Trump Supporters Have ‘Cultish Devotion’

Former Vice President Joe Biden told Democrats at Cal State Fullerton on Thursday that supporters of President Donald Trump have a “cultish devotion” to their leader, choosing “party over country” in supporting Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

“The truth itself is being thrown aside in favor of a cultish devotion to the whims of one man,” Biden told hundreds of campaign volunteers Thursday at a Cal State Fullerton rally, citing the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

“Look at the behavior of Republican senators during the recent testimony of Judge Kavanaugh. Look at the behavior of this president every day,” he said. “Lies have never been more brazen. Blind rage and brute partisanship has never been more palpable.”

Biden, who is still considered a dark horse candidate for president in 2020 despite repeated denials, visited California this week to fundraise for Democrats and to campaign for the party’s congressional candidates. The Associated Press reported that candidates from five competitive districts attended the rally. Biden also reportedly told attendees that the upcoming midterm elections were “much bigger than politics … Our humanity is being tested.”

The former vice president’s criticism of a Trump “cult” echoes recent claims by Hollywood actress and activist Alyssa Milano that Trump uses a “cult-like force” to communicate with supporters.

Ironically, Biden’s criticism echoes criticism of then-President Barack Obama, who spoke of his own election as “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal,” and whose supporters followed him with a quasi-religious devotion, portraying him as a spiritual “Lightworker.” Some journalists even compared Obama to God.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.