When Donald Trump descended upon the crowd in Trump Tower in 2015 to announce his presidential bid, it was a moment that changed the nature of politics in the United States. A populist businessman, beloved for his reality TV antics, initially continued what he was best known for — entertaining people. Then he started gaining momentum in the primary and became what every politician with an R after his name becomes, the latest incarnation of Hitler.
Beating Hillary Clinton in 2016 only galvanized this obvious truth, one that continues today at vanity publication The New Republic, multiple other outlets, and on the internet in general. That Trump already served four years as president without launching whatever his gold-adorned version of Kristallnacht would have been is ignored, as is the fact that neither Trump nor his allies or boosters are the ones going on about “Zionism” at present. Regardless, democracy is at stake, etc., etc.
It’s not just the media and the left (to repeat myself) who became increasingly agitated with Trump in his first run, though. Many on the right were also horrified by Trump’s rise. It wasn’t just that he hadn’t always seemed like much of a conservative. There were also the boorish insults, the affairs, the wives, and myriad other ways Trump was unlike any other recent candidate. As someone who was totally put off by Trump’s style, I know this personally, though my biggest fear was that he would do the normal Republican thing and move left
