This was coming way before Trump entered the picture. Rush Limbaugh in the 90's, Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly during the Bush years (and everything involving Dock Cheney), and the Tea Party movement all were pushing to get us here.
I've heard it argued this goes all the way back to a mistake at the end of the civil war when confederates weren't deported. Not sure how true that is but it seems like there's a plausible thread.
Andrew Johnson was soft on slavers and their sympathizers.
This was coming way before Trump entered the picture. Rush Limbaugh in the 90's, Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly during the Bush years (and everything involving Dock Cheney), and the Tea Party movement all were pushing to get us here.
I've heard it argued this goes all the way back to a mistake at the end of the civil war when confederates weren't deported. Not sure how true that is but it seems like there's a plausible thread.
Andrew Johnson was soft on slavers and their sympathizers.