It’s unfair to blame Trump for how Republican elected officials have responded to his candidacy and election. Each had a choice, and in overwhelming numbers these officials made a personal choice to support a man each knew was wildly unqualified to be president. It’s a familiar pattern, and every Republican can wish upon an American exceptionalism star and it means nothing. Some version of this story has repeated itself throughout the world over the last century, with a cast of political outsiders, including Adolf Hitler: Getúlio Vargas in Brazil, Alberto Fujimori in Peru, and Hugo Chávez in
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