Sentence:  But like all despots , as he <WSD>builds</WSD> his following from among the gullible , he grows more threatening toward those who won n't follow - such solid citizens as Doc Raccoon ; Judge Black , the vegetarian black snake ; and the eagle , who leads the bird community when he is not too busy in Washington posing for fifty-cent pieces . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  form or accumulate steadily