They have tried to walk the line just enough to keep the media unwilling to use precise terminology, and to give voters who aren’t committed Republicans plausible deniability. Remember how Project 2025 was open but Trump kept pretending that he didn’t agree with so many of his former staffers, associates, and donors? That was to allow the people who mostly want tax cuts, the Muslims who have religious opposition to LGBTQ rights, the Jews who are Israel hawks, etc. to tell themselves it was safe to vote for him.
Direct statements approving of wiping Gaza and Israel off the earth or disparaging Indian engineers pierce the veil of self-deception and force lukewarm supporters to acknowledge who they’re backing. It’s the same reason why they’re arguing that Musk threw a “Roman salute” hoping that the median voter doesn’t know as much about the Italian fascist movement.
- "They're not that bad, they're just trolling people; they would never say racist things at me... They'll stop once they get into power."
After getting into power:
- "Oh... If only someone had warned me about this!"