I suspect that while most conservatives would prefer someone more ‘close to home’, there’s two things that may appeal:
They may reference him to stave off claims of racism. “See? I woulda voted for him if Trump weren’t running, you can’t call me racist!”
He says the right things, and he’s independently wealthy, which gives him that ‘outsider’ status that they also bestow upon Trump. With those two things, he might be deemed ‘one of the good ones’.
Ultimately, few will opt for him over Trump, and their allegiance to him would likely be far more fickle, as they cannot identify with him as much.
What I found most plausible was the notion that he was running to soften Trump’s image or something. Like he seemed even more over the top than even Trump and I don’t know how any serious person pulls that off unless there’s another orthogonal angle
I suspect that while most conservatives would prefer someone more ‘close to home’, there’s two things that may appeal:
Ultimately, few will opt for him over Trump, and their allegiance to him would likely be far more fickle, as they cannot identify with him as much.
What I found most plausible was the notion that he was running to soften Trump’s image or something. Like he seemed even more over the top than even Trump and I don’t know how any serious person pulls that off unless there’s another orthogonal angle