This was back in 2016. He also praised descriptions of Trump's followers as being outright Nazis and belligerent idiots. He remained highly critical of the Trump administration as late as 2019. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/11/22/trump-win-popular-vote-below-50-percent-00190793
I think it says as much about all the folks that say this kind of stuff about Trump and then end up licking his boots as it says about Trump. That is a long list of folks, not just RFK Jr..
I think they were all expressing their true feelings: RIP Jr., Lindsey Lady G. Graham, Rafael Fled Cruz, Nimarata Nikki Haley, JD Vance and his two other names, etc. The question is...did they fall in line because they drank the kool-aid, or are they just sociopathic opportunists?
I think Trump team is a mix, some are very strong Israel supporters, especially the Evangelicals. Trump said "I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House,” “But in all fairness, I already am,” Trump added. Trump said during the donor event in Washington, titled “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America.” Trump also has been criticized for his association with extremists who spew antisemitic rhetoric. But during his four years in office, Trump approved a series of policy changes long sought by many advocates of Israel, such as moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights. In his remarks, Trump criticized Harris over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war and for what he called antisemitic protests on college campuses and elsewhere. We will see, time will show
Political scientists have debated whether populism is an ideology. My formal education is in a niche field of political science/international relations, so I didn't receive a foundational education on broader political science concepts. My lay opinion is that populism is not an ideology. Trump has no ideology. Trump fans have no ideology. The populist voters who split their vote between AOC and Trump have no ideology. Voters who switched from Bernie to Trump or RFK Jr. to Trump have no ideology. Populism is a style, approach, tactic, or strategy. Populism can come from the left, right, or center. This past election, we had a rare instance of a centrist populist getting traction. Democrats decided to not run a candidate in the senatorial race in Nebraska. They believed that Dan Osborn had a chance of beating the Republican candidate.
MAGA is a personality cult. I cannot understand how the slavish devotion to Donald Trump developed but it did and there it is. There's nothing else in the MAGA world. In ancient Rome, they'd have built Trump a temple and offered sacrifices.
I speculate that large #s of voters in 2024 that voted Republican, are not MAGA in a way Dems define MAGA. People voted this way because they were unhappy with the way things were going, cost of living, and other issues that we discussed. I speculate people would have voted for other than Trump candidate as well. For those who state the voters who voted GOP this time have no ideology, I think the ideology is there, but you don't like it. The Republican coalition is overwhelmingly conservative: 49% of Republican-aligned voters say they are conservative and 20% say they are very conservative. According to AP VoteCast, 16% of Black voters supported Trump in 2024, up from 8 percent in 2020. If you are a church going person, you will have ideological issues with supporting the Democratic Party. Democrats have lost some ground among Hispanic voters, too. And among people who are laborers, may not have degrees, etc.
I go to church every Sunday and would have far more ideological issues supporting today's Republican Party. And I'm far from alone.
There are thousands of denominations so, yes, there is a variety of believers or churchgoers who have opposing views. Details and interpretation all shape views, from Love, companion, sanctity of life, family to many other values. I should have added, among people I know.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-why-rfk-jr-under-170000682.html Opinion article: Why is RFK Jr. under attack for questioning a broken system? This is why Kennedy has promised one of his first actions as secretary of HHS will be to bring a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act action against major medical publications and organizations demanding that they reveal the amount of money they receive from pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.