As an American living in Australia, there is one question I get asked more than any other. Put bluntly, it’s “What the f--- is going on in the US?” The underlying issue: How does a hateful, lying, criminal, vulgar and chaotic person like Donald Trump remain a viable presidential candidate?

While the American political scene is very complex, there is, when it comes to this particular question, one overriding simple answer. It is this: the Democratic Party, over the years, has allowed itself to be culturally branded in a way that makes it very difficult for it to make inroads into big parts of the US population.

Donald Trump’s continued appeal is a mystery to the world outside the US. But he won in 2016 and can win again in 2024 against Kamala Harris.Credit: AP

I grew up in the very........

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