Jack do you feel that this was always the trajectory the American right wing was heading?
Once they introduced Sarah Palin it was over for them. They made their bed at that moment. Here is a person who represents all the horrible parts of humanity (dumb, happily ignorant, terrible family, terrible kids, blatant liar). Palin really lived in a post truth environment and made lying seem normal.
From there the right wing platform featured other nincompoops like Michelle Bachman, Scott Walker, Etc etc etc. until 2016 where they fell over backwards for Trump. The culmination of decades worth of right wing policy and featuring the fringes of society.