It turns out the idea that women and minorities were in bag for the Democrats resulted in large parts of those demographics eventually feeling ignored or taken for granted by the Democrats and looking elsewhere. Unity, inclusion and equality ultimately made some people of all groups feel they were losing out to people who didn’t work as hard and weren’t as deserving.
A big part of Trump’s success, particularly in 2024 but also in 2016, is that anger, outrage and hatred appeal to a larger part of the American people these days than the positive, lofty ideals put forth by past Democrats and to a lesser degree by the old GOP.
This may be true or it may not. I would agree Trump is better at doing this but I suspect as long as the GOP continues to promote the rhetoric of hate, outrage and anger they will win elections, at least in the short term. I would hope people will eventually get tired of it and turn away, but who knows. The 2028 elections will do more to tell us if it is already fading than the midterms.