OK, so you’re asking, from the perspective of a lib who thinks Rs and Ds are actually opposed, why one hasn’t seized power previously.

Yeah pretty much.

Hm. I think they’d say that all previous presidents really did love american norms and institutions in their own way and trump is a unique bad guy, first ruzzian president, etc.

My response would be “no good presidents lol ”…or on a day where I’m not absolutely fucking out-of-control furious at life and 🧊, I would carefully but firmly explain that Trump is really the logical conclusion of the project as opposed to some aberration.