Watching from this side of the Atlantic, and being from a country that was under dictorship, I think anyone hoping they only need to hold on to some future elections, haven't paid that much attention during history classes.
The hopeful side is that he is old, and most people voted him in because they did not like inflation and he promised he would bring prices down on day 1.
Trump isn't running again and he has a notoriously poor track record of picking political allies so his "chosen successor" is DOA. After 2028 it will be normal uniparty American politics as usual, with the MAGA/MIGAs going the way of the Tea Party, absorbed and homogenized into the political machine.
The hyperbole about 2024 being the last election in American history will seem silly in retrospect to most, but those who really believe it now will for the most part never admit they got swept up in hysteria and will instead pat themselves on the backs and credit themselves for America narrowly avoiding disaster. A generation or two later, young people will just roll their eyes when their parents talk about any of it, one way or the other, like millennials did when their parents rambled on about Reagan or Nixon.
The hyperbole is based on history with similar events.
Being from 70's generation, with family that had to their encounters with PIDE/DGS, and took part on the liberation forces, I see the supposed hyperbole with different eyes.
The MAGAs are creating a lot of institutional rot at state and local level offices where they are out of the limelight and can continue doing damage after the felon is gone. It is impossible for a rational Republican to get on the ballot because they have to face primaries against the shameless narcissists who've been shown how to con their gullible members.
I really don't think it's all that different from Republicans in the past (particularly the two I named), both in the way they were perceived and received, and what they actually did. Felon and showman, wrecking government institutions, subverting democracy, etc etc.
When in doubt, bet on the status quo. When the status quo falters, bet on a return to the status quo.
Nah, the real problem was the old guy that promised to step down, then refused to do so until the last minute leaving us without the time to choose a real candidate.
Not to mention the fact that we refused to hold the person who tried to overthrow our government accountable for doing so.
