Donald Trump is a colossus; if you don’t believe it, just ask him. He’s a superman. He can’t be judged by the standards that are applied to the rest of us. But Trump is a hobbled giant, brought low by a million pinpricks from the snooty, self-satisfied liberal establishment. He’s Gulliver, restrained by Lilliputians.
Why does this apparently contradictory image appeal to the base? Largely because reactionaries see themselves in the same light. They made America great, and now they are unjustly despised by a country that no longer appreciates their values and their skills. Someone has to pay for that.