this is a topic that has been extensively picked over in think pieces, the usual argument of which is some variation of “the Republican Party laid the groundwork for his rise.” And that’s true enough—eight years of pure opposition politics, often framed on racial lines, and on top of a decades-long strategy of stoking white resentment left the party vulnerable to a populist insurgent. With a field of candidates that was at once overcrowded and mediocre, 2016 was an obvious year for it to happen. And the result was always going to have a fascist sheen with a white nationalist core.
