Wombat.
The single most salient principle that explains the seeming inconsistencies of an authoritarian leader's behavior is that it's all about control.
That is, authoritarian leaders of groups called "cults" like what they control and don't like what they likely cannot control.
So people that the leader thinks are problematic and/or difficult to control may be thrown out and people the leader wants to control and/or feels fairly sure can be controlled are kept in.
The single most salient principle that explains the seeming inconsistencies of an authoritarian leader's behavior is that it's all about control.
That is, authoritarian leaders of groups called "cults" like what they control and don't like what they likely cannot control.
So people that the leader thinks are problematic and/or difficult to control may be thrown out and people the leader wants to control and/or feels fairly sure can be controlled are kept in.