Back in February, Axios reported on “The Cult of Trump,” saying “he has the ability to create realities that Republicans in Washington will either silently tolerate, or willingly believe and embrace.”

And last year, a National Journal piece yesterday was titled “Trump’s Cult Overwhelms the GOP”: “The Republican Party is slowly morphing into a cult-of-personality vehicle around Trump.”

Now I found a few cult-ish references in the wayback machine for Barack Obama, who once dazzled crowds with his hope-and-change oratory. But the term often came from the right, such as in the Cato Institute book “False Idol: Barack Obama and the Continuing Cult of the Presidency.”

It’s clear that cult is a derogatory term hurled by political opponents. The media shouldn’t adopt it for Donald Trump or any other politician—that is, unless they’re trying to make the person sound creepy.