I’m old enough to remember Trump in the 1980s. At that time, he was looked at as an unscrupulous playboy wannabe who burned through his father’s money.

Conservatives and republicans of the time pointed to him as all that was wrong with Liberal America.

Because he had no morals, he eventually realized that these people value tribe and message more than logic and reason. So he pivoted to saying whatever they wanted to hear while reinforcing that their tribe was the best tribe, meanwhile continuing to behave exactly the same. And they accepted him in.