Trump believed that his divisive commentary and attacks on enemies were important to rally his base, which was in turn the secret of his power over an otherwise skeptical Washington establishment. He believed this although polls throughout his presidency showed that his lies and Twitter attacks were a consistent turnoff even to Republicans who otherwise supported his agenda. He had also learned by this point that there was essentially no way for him to go too far, that his own party leaders and advisers would excuse and rationalize just about anything he did or said, even if they had
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