ArbitraryValue , 25 days ago

Call me crazy but I think he might be telling the truth. His main priority is self-aggrandizement and he has no respect for any institution that stands in the way of that, but his political positions were actually fairly mainstream for a Republican. I don’t see Romney, McCain, or GWB giving the speeches (or provoking the mobs) that Trump did because they acted with respect for America’s democratic institutions, but I can see them supporting similar laws and policies. My guess is that Trump doesn’t actually care much about the practical reality of governing a country and in 2016-2020 the existing Republican establishment did most of the policy work. Now extremists are putting a lot of effort into becoming the ones who influence him, and maybe they will (which certainly frightens me) but that doesn’t mean that he currently cares much about their policies.