I used to watch the McLaughlin Group (a long damned time ago), and there was something disarming about seeing those people, with all their different points of view, talking among themselves. Also, Pat Buchanan had this silly little scrunched-face giggle he would sometimes do that made it hard to hate him.
But he clearly went from “Someone I really, really disagree with” to “Unhinged hateful loon” a long time ago. As in “‘defending Hitler’ unhinged hateful lunacy”, which a number of us Pitted him for back in 2009. (Boy, time flies!)