Did Supporting Trump Change Republican Voters?

"Fake it until you make it" goes both ways.

Supporters of former US President Donald Trump protest near Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 21, 2023. (Photo by GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)

I’m back. I hope everyone had a restful 4th of July holiday with family and friends.

NB: Sarah Longwell is back on The Next Level! Watch Tim, Sarah and me hash through those SCOTUS rulings here or listen here to our newest episode “Nine Imperfect Judges.”

1. Fake It Until You Make It

One of the ironies of Trumpism is that many of the people who accommodate it often do so from a place of recognition that it is problematic and a belief that their support will change or constrain its most dangerous aspects.

These same people generally fail to understand that the street goes both ways: Yes, they might—in small ways—change or constrain the authoritarian character at the heart of nationalist populism.

But also, throwing in with authoritarians changes and constrains you. In ways that are not small.