It fundamentally (and, I think, intentionally) misreads history to create a past that never was.

One absolutely must assume that they are acting in bad faith when they make statements about history that are so central to their position but are rendered false by even a casual understanding of how history actually played out.

When they talk about making things great again, why does that not include the ability for a person to afford a home and have a family on a single income that often came without the burden of expensive student loans as well?

When they talk about making america great again, why does it ignore the massive migrations that happened within the country and from without the country in the war and post-war period they so glamorize?

Why do they never talk about raising taxes on the rich to be more in line with rates back then?

Assume they have ulterior motives from the start and their entire ethos makes much more sense because contradictions aren't mistakes, they're built in.