From Mel Gibson to Lauren Boebert to Charlie Kirk, Trump’s return to office is being framed not as a political comeback but as a fatherly restoration of order. As I explain in the video below, this isn’t just embarrassing—it reflects a deeper, more dangerous shift in how the right views power. This is indeed a return—not to accountable rule but to a medieval system of patronage where loyalty trumps law and governance becomes a family business.
Watch it below or on YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram, and be sure to read Alan Elrod’s essay in The UnPopulist for a more in-depth look at one dangerous manifestation of this phenomenon: the “constitutional sheriff” movement.
© The UnPopulist, 2025
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