Jackie Speier is a survivor of the infamous Jonestown massacre, which occurred in November 1978. The first half of the tragedy began when she and her boss, Congressman Leo Ryan (D-Ca.) traveled to Guyana, South America to investigate child abuse claims in the Jonestown cult, which was presided over by charismatic religious leader Jim Jones, The Daily Beast reports. Cult loyalists attacked the pair on an airport runway and Ryan was killed. Speier was shot five times and left for dead. Several other people also lost their lives in the brutal attack, including members of an NBC crew who were reporting on the story.

Then the second half of the tragedy occurred and Jones convinced 909 ardent followers living in the commune he created to drink a cyanide-laced drink. All of them died, including more than 300 children. It is, unfortunately, what most people think of when someone is said to be “drinking the Kool-Aid.” It’s where this slogan got its start.

And the only reason Jackie Speier lived to tell her story is that she pretended to be dead. But drinking the Kool-Aid is on her mind frequently these days because she sees eerie similarities between Jones, his followers, and supporters of President Donald Trump, Medium reports.

Like Jones, who convinced his followers to give up their possessions and hand over their Social Security checks, Trump seems to also have a financial hold over his followers, writer Manny Otiko notes. Scores of them have donated millions to his campaign to investigate alleged campaign fraud.

But even all the way up until a couple of years ago, Speier was unwilling to make the comparison between Trump and the cult’s leader, Raw Story reports.

“I recoiled from that question,” she said. “I wasn’t prepared to think this was a parallel. Now, four years into this nightmare of melodrama and manipulation, the parallels are pretty clear.”

Trump holds sway over the Republican Party and even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been cowed by him and goes along with his lies. This dynamic, Speier notes, is much like the situation at the People’s Temple, where followers were afraid of crossing Jones lest they be cast out.

“Community had become their family, and like the 70 percent of Republicans today who think the election was filled with fraud, those that had some sense of independence couldn’t express it,” she said. “Once you get deep into something like this, even if you know it’s not right, you stay there, you’re transfixed.”

She couldn’t help but note the similarities between Jones coercing his followers to give their assets to him, which of course pressures on others to also do so, and Trump’s raising more than $200 million since losing the election.

“If you’re a true believer, you will show your allegiance, your faith, by providing your world possessions to the family,” Speier said.

“He’s created a cult of personality — and as hard as it is for me to say, he exudes charisma and people want to follow him,” she said. “When you see the Proud Boys on the street knifing people and inciting violence, it’s a little chilling. This is a political cult. The other is a religious cult.”

It remains to be seen as to what will happen once Trump leaves the White House. We can only hope he takes his cultists with him, but if he really does plan to run again in 2024, they may not go quietly. Because they are still drinking the Kool-Aid.