A new survey has revealed that a significant proportion of Canadians and Americans view supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump as a “cult.”
The results are based on an online poll conducted by Research Co. between November 8 and 10 among 1,000 adults in Canada and 1,001 adults in the US.
The public opinion poll and data collection company defined a cult as “a group which is typically led by a charismatic leader, who tightly controls its members, requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered outside the norms of society.”
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The survey found that nearly half of Canadians (47%) and Americans (46%) thought that cult was a fair label to give Trump followers.
When these groups were broken down by age, there was a difference in opinion between Canadians and their US counterparts.
Half (50%) of older Canadians (age 55 and over) used cult to describe Trump and Republican party followers compared to 42% of Americans in the same age group.
Slightly fewer younger Canadians — 42% of those aged 35 to 54, and 48% aged 18 to 34 — said cult was an accurate word to use.
Nearly half of younger Americans — 49% aged 35 to 54 and 48% aged 18 to 34 — felt the same.
As for political viewpoints, there were some significant divides.
Over three-quarters (76%) of US respondents who said they were Democrats and Canadians who said they voted Liberal (63%) or NDP (54%) felt Trump followers were a cult.
That differed significantly as only 41% of US Republican supporters and 40% of Conservative voters in Canada agreed.
What about politicians other than Trump?
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Research Co. also asked respondents if they felt cult could be used to describe other prominent political figures in Canada and the US.
Nearly two in five (37%) of Americans said the word was fairly used to refer to followers of the Democrats and Kamala Harris in the US, and 30% of Canadians felt the same.
In Canada, over one-third (35%) said it was fair to label the followers of the Conservatives and their party leader Pierre Poilievre as a cult, followed by 33% who said the same about Justin Trudeau supporters.
Trump has recently made headlines for sharing his thoughts about Canada.
Last week, he reportedly “joked” with Trudeau during their meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, that Canada should become the 51st US state.
That remark was followed by his posting of a cryptic AI-generated image on social media showing him looking at mountain ranges next to a Canadian flag. Trump captioned the photo with “Oh Canada,” leaving many internet users confused by what he meant by the post.