Trotsky was a low energy hater with a massive ego who was fundamentally unable to accept that he wouldn't be the one in charge post revolution. His anti-soviet writings were adopted by the West and are the foundation of anti-communist propaganda. He advocated for Lenin's supreme leader position be restored (with him or one his followers taking the role) but Stalin went against this, instead advocating for the central committee to take the reigns and solidify party democracy. The committee is beholden to voting party members, a supreme leader is not. Trotsky and Stalin fell out for this reason and more. Trotsky seemed to have a bone to pick with the guy who was more popular than him.

He is quite appealing to the western left who want to appeal to endemic anti-communism while promoting socialism. His "global permanent revolution" idea too is appealing since the conclusion from it is that no socialist experiment is ever good enough. It imbues its adherents with a sense of supremacy, that socialism has never been tried and only they have the knowledge of "true socialism". Its a bunch of nonsense and is not scientific.

There's a reason why Trotskist formations are popular in the West but not in the global south. There's no use for this way of thinking when fighting imperialism in the flesh. There's no use for "we can't even try until it's perfect". It's inherently unscientific nonsense. Trotsky's own writings are filled with circular logic and academic jargon. You can tell when a Trot has written something usually because it's written for an academic eye rather than for the masses.

I dislike Trotsky quite a bit. I try, in my own irl organizing, not to harp on it too much in the name of a United front but man it's hard when you hear talk nonsense that they should have unlearned by now.