I think I’ve offered this on another thread:
Former President Trump has taken every conceivable position on every possible issue. He has affirmed and disavowed every position he’s ever held. He was both deadly serious and totally kidding.
The strategy? No matter the outcome, he can point to ‘evidence’ that he called it right from the beginning.
I tend to view Trump as far more evil than stupid. He says the thing that the deplorables are desperate to hear, but says it in a way that gives his surrogates space to walk it back, or offer an alternative – slightly less repugnant – interpretation.
And he does this All. The. Time. And he does this to close the deal … to make the sale.