It’s actually worse than that IMO, they’ve imprinted on him as a surrogate for themselves. To attack, challenge or abandon him now would be to do that to themselves.
He definitely represents their animus. A projection of their perverse fantasy of disrupting the “corrupt government” sold to them by decades of hate radio.
If you ever listened to Rush Limbaugh you already know how these people think. They have been spoon fed lies their entire life.