I remember when Nineteen Eighty-Four was a satire of totalitarianism

This is a trivial incident in purely substantive terms, but an extremely important and telling one in terms of its broader psychological and political implications.

A few days ago, in a meeting attended by pretty much the entire GOP House caucus (so a couple of hundred people), Donald Trump called Milwaukee, host of the Republican convention a few weeks from now, a “horrible city.” When asked about this after his remark was reported, Trump explained that yes he had said that, but he merely meant that it was a crime-ridden hell hole with crooked elections. Republicans duly lined up to support their Supreme Leader for having merely told the truth about Milwaukee.

But within a few days Trump either forgot that he had admitted to making the statement, or more probably was simply indifferent to the fact that he had, and started claiming that he had never said it. The current state of play is that news organizations like CNN are reporting the fact that Trump said Milwaukee was a horrible city (this is a fact, again, because he said it in front of 200 people, was confronted with his statement, and admitted to making it) is merely “alleged,” because he’s currently denying having said it.

When people say the Republican party is now a cult, this is not some sort of hyperbole or metaphor. And that is a fact you won’t see reported by any respectable media outlet.