"Some people familiar with Mr. Trump’s tactics shrugged it off as a riff that meant very little — or possibly nothing at all. They said he was most likely referring to so-called tele-rallies with Republican members of Congress that he has been participating in regularly, "

10 years in they’re obviously choosing to pretend Trump is Count Tsun Su Machievelli Monte Christo in spite of every evidence.

It must be exhausting to do the fascist strong/weak thing when your enemy is just a Scooby Doo villain.