Cultural Revolution: Mao vs Trump

Mao Zedong might be laughing or turning in his grave, depending on how you looked when he saw President Donald Trump taking a page from his playbook for the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

The Chinese Cultural Revolution worshipped Chairman Mao almost like a religious cult. For the MAGA movement, Trump is like a savior, destined to save the country from decline. Trump referred to the assassination attempt in Philadelphia in his inaugural speech and said, “My life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.” Trump demands fealty from people and takes pleasure when presidents, world leaders, and tech billionaires kowtow to him.

Mao started the Cultural Revolution to purge his political opponents whom he accused of deviating from his vision of Communism. Since Trump took power, he has constantly criticized President Biden, revoked security details from John Bolton and others, fired the Joint Chiefs chairman and other top brass, and laid off DOJ officials who had worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team. So far, Trump has not locked his opponents up or shaved half of their heads and paraded them on the streets. But this payback day may not be far away if he has his way.

During the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards wore Mao suits and waved the little red books with Mao’s sayings. They believed they were saving their country, just as Elon Musk's young techies believed today. MAGA devotees wear red MAGA hats to Trump’s rallies and adore their leader, a twice-impeached, convicted felon. The Chinese Revolution spread its ideas through newspapers, big character posters, slogans, revolutionary plays, and study groups. Trump spreads his alt truths through ingenious use of tweets, FOX News interviews, calls into conservative radio programs, and constant dramas that grab headlines.

Mao called for a continuing revolution because the socialist revolution had not succeeded in changing people’s mindsets and behaviors. He was suspicious of intellectuals and called for a disruptive cultural change. Trump believed that the U.S. had been taken over by educated elites, DEI advocates, and woke proponents. To wrestle the country from the deep state, the Trump administration canceled public support for DEI programs, cut half of the staff of the Department of Education, and vowed to slash funding to schools pushing critical race theory and transgender identity. He used transgender politics as a wedge issue during his campaign and signed an executive order barring transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. Appeasing the Religious Right, he wants the country to return to a traditional, binary construction of gender and limit women’s reproductive choices.

The iconoclastic Chinese Resolution encouraged people to spy on one another and report anti-revolutionaries among them. There was a clear demarcation of friends from enemies. Trump’s administration asked federal workers to report on co-workers who might work in DEI roles using “coded or imprecise language” or face severe consequences. This created tension and mistrust because people’s livelihoods and mortgages were on the line.

Mao’s Cultural Revolution aimed to transform society and change people’s souls and psyches. The Chinese were told to be vigilant if they retained rudiments of petty-bourgeois thought and behavior. Those under attack were required to write self-confessions to admit guilt and errors and vouch to follow the party line. The rehabilitation process demanded a constant demonstration of loyalty and obedience. If we look at the performance of Lindsey Graham, J. D. Vance, and Marco Rubio, we can see their eagerness to show loyalty and court favor from the supreme leader.

Though Elon Musk did not ask for self-confession from the federal employees, he required them to write down five things they had accomplished the week before. Failure to do so would be taken as a resignation. Employees were asked to monitor and reflect on their job performance to see if they had accomplished something worth reporting.

Mao was 73 when the Cultural Revolution began and deputized his minions to carry out his orders. Trump, at 78, appointed Elon Musk as the chief executive to smash government agencies, close the USAID, and cut government budgets, including that of the Pentagon. Trump’s cabinet consists of many unqualified people. Their resume would not have justified an interview if they were to apply for comparable jobs in the private sector. These people who carry out Trump’s marching orders would do well to learn from history. Mao’s deputies who betrayed the people were shamed and discredited. One needs only to look at the spectacular downfall of the Gang of Four.

During the latter years of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the world saw a drastic realignment of global politics. President Nixon’s historic visit to Beijing in 1972 and his handshake with Mao opened a pathway for normalizing relations with China. The Shanghai Communiqué said the U.S. acknowledged that “there is but one China and that Taiwan is part of China.” It continues to shape U.S.-China relationships. Amid the American Cultural Revolution, what would happen to Sino-American relations? As Trump's Cultural Revolution attacked liberalism and the world order established after the Second World War, all eyes are on China’s response to Trump’s new playbook of global politics. Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the phone days before his inauguration and expressed the wish to visit Beijing. Meanwhile, given Trump’s changed policy toward Ukraine, Taiwanese people are concerned about whether the U.S. would protect Taiwan. His dressing down of President Zelensky at the White House did not help.

The Chinese Cultural Revolution has been remembered as a ten-year grave tragedy because of the violence, bloodshed, loss of time, and stagnant growth. Let us hope the American Cultural Revolution will not end in turmoil and violence. Already, we have seen the opposition mounting: protests in the town halls, federal workers demonstrating, Democrats speaking out more boldly, and judges stopping some of Trump’s unconstitutional actions.

Democracy is an unfinished project. Americans are used to finger-pointing and labeling other countries as failed states. Unless Americans stand up against Trump’s bullying culture, we may lose the American values we cherish and live the next ten years in fear, uncertainty, and depression.