Across the political spectrum, with alarm on the right and delight on the left, the display of warmth from Donald Trump toward Zohran Mamdani on Friday set off shock waves. The president’s lavish praise of the New York City mayor-elect in the Oval Office was a 180-degree turn from his condemnation of the democratic socialist as “a pure true communist” and “a total nut job.” The stunning reversal made for a great political drama. But what does it portend?

Trump and his MAGA followers are hardly going to forsake their standard mix of bigotry, anti-immigrant mania and other political toxins. Demagoguery has long fueled the Republican engine — and in the 11 months until the midterm elections, skullduggery to thwart democracy promises to accelerate rather than slow down.

The spectacle has rek

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