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This is true but Trump also just has a personality cult.
Trump drags the party to where he is, based on his own idiosyncrasies. It's not just Democrats who failed to fully account for this. The entire Bulwark-class of the GOP are outsiders now for a reason. Many Republicans took stances against Trump only for him to double down and forcibly bend the base and party to him (he was attacked for the Access Hollywood tape in a way that seems far less likely today for people who want to stay in the party).
The number of people who think Canada is an enemy has risen...purely amongst Republicans. If you had asked people before the election about it, they would hardly have cared. I've seen even skeptical media figures (who're presumably more invested in politics) suddenly start caring about Canada and a trade deficit they never mentioned as a meaningful Trump priority beforehand.
Trump flips on TikTok? No issue. How exactly do his stated plans for Gaza fit in with the "no wars, no foreign entanglements" thing? We'll figure it out.
Part of it is that your enemies exist in a bubble but part of it is also that the most mercurial man in politics is the only one with a bully pulpit and ability to swing his base apparently.
That may be partly true but tariffs are something he’s literally been talking about since like the 80s. This particular issue should have been the least surprising of anything he’s ever talked about.
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