Over the decades, I’ve built up certain expectations about how the world works and how people behave. And yet I’ve found that Donald Trump has confounded me at every turn. I was shocked at how thuggishly Trump behaved in that first debate with Joe Biden in 2020. As the Jan. 6 committee hearings progressed, I was stunned to find out just how aggressively Trump had worked to overthrow the election. And yet I can’t quite feel ashamed of my perpetual naïveté toward Donald Trump.

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Persons: I’ve, Donald Trump, thuggishly Trump, Joe Biden, Trump, flagrantly