For nearly a decade, the left has described Donald Trump and his populist movement as a cult, in which the MAGA hordes grovel before their messianic former president. It’s not necessarily an issue-driven devotion, though there are policy implications, but more about how Trump makes his admirers feel.

A bona fide cult of personality. These critics have a point about the levels of enthusiasm Trump inspires among his faithful. But they are wrong about his phenomenon being unique to him.

Take a look at the cult of Kamala.

When President Joe Biden left the presidential race and the vice president immediately became the de facto Democratic nominee, she was heralded as a savior whose character and mission were as pure as wind-driven snow. CNN’s Van Jones said that “Kamalamania” gives America a “heartbeat of hope” after the “deathwatch for democracy” that was the original Biden–Trump matchup. Much like popular images and memes of Trump with bulging strongman muscles, Kamala’s clan loves to portray her as Wonder Woman, Captain America, and even the Statue of Liberty. The neoconservative Washington Post Never-Trumper Jennifer Rubin wrote on X, “what is that feeling… ah, the knot in my stomach and the weight on my heart have lifted. I have hope for democracy.” “White Woman for Kamala” and even “White Dudes for Harris” activist groups have sprung up, not dissimilar to “Blacks for Trump.” The View gushed with love for Harris. When her running mate, Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz, was announced, the mostly unknown politician also became an overnight sensation for Democrats.

Never mind that Harris doesn’t have a single policy position on her website. It’s really not about that.

Much of this excitement is understandable. Democrats had resigned themselves to having to settle for mentally compromised Biden, and now they are getting a chance to vote for a ticket with members that can complete sentences. A well-appreciated alternative.

But much of the love for Trump arises from the fact that Republican voters didn’t want another Mitt Romney, John McCain, or other establishment Bush-Cheney types shoved down their throat yet again. That they can have their own guy, not another GOP leadership tool. That’s legit.

While the cult that’s taking shape around Kamala will only grow for the next three months, let’s dispense with Trump’s critics’ delusions about the populist MAGA movement being something unheard of: The cult of Obama was real—we were all there and remember it as such—becoming arguably the greatest Democratic display of president-worship since the Kennedys. 

This cult-like behavior for certain political figures is not a left-right thing; it’s a human thing.

The independent leftist Senator Bernie Sanders’s devotees were certainly unrelenting in their support for their socialist hero when he ran for president. Young libertarians certainly gave the Republican Representative Ron Paul the star treatment in his 2008 and 2012 presidential bids.

As for the greatest Republican hero before Trump: What was the Reagan Revolution if not conservatives who saw their hopes and dreams personified in a California cowboy? Neoconservatives who blather on about Trump’s cult today never had a word to say about the many Republican devotees of George W. Bush who supported his war without hesitation or doubt. In fact, some of that Bush-worship got real weird.

Kamala Harris doesn’t really have to do or say anything to garner this unquestioning adulation, and in fact, at the time of this writing, hasn’t said much at all.

But she doesn’t have to. She’s not Trump and she’s the one person who can prevent him from becoming president again. To millions of Americans that’s all that matters, and thus she’s become an instant star, elevated far beyond her old mere vice president status. She can do no wrong in the eyes of her supporters between now and November.

If Donald Trump having this kind of love means he’s part of a “cult,” Kamala has one too.

But don’t expect Kamala Harris fans to call it that. Some cults are better than others.