My I express my honest opinion?, page-6

Trump is a salesman who can read the room, and was only able to dominate the party because he provided something that many people wanted.

They wanted white men in suits back in charge of everything. Trump achieved that, while encouraging supporters to spew out their hate and fears, and targeting any who opposed him with direct or indirect threats of violence or professional harm.

The Republican's core demographic has been decreasing since the 1990s, and they have had to resort to stealing elections with gerrymandering, voter suppression, ID laws, striking off African sounding names from electoral rolls and dozens of more subtle strategies. As Trump openly said on Fox News, if they let everyone vote then the Republicans would never win an election again.

Trump effectively flipped everything, using the tricks of the con artist. He openly tried to steal two elections while claiming that the other side was doing what he was doing. He threatened others while claiming they were threatening him. He encouraged hate speech while claiming the people he was targeting were engaging in the same hate speech as him.

Trump's "They're doing it too" tactic allowed his supporters to drop any pretence of fairness or ethics. So yes, he dragged everyone deep in the mud. But the mud was there.

America's race war never ended after the Civil War. There is a relentless movement each decade to maintain white supremacy at all costs. Trump, while a highly effective spokesman and salesman, is just a small part of that movement.