In 2016 he just looked like many third world politicians. But the salting-of-the-earth type of vandalism he’s attempting now out of sheer rage is not something I’ve seen in even the worst third world politics.
Talking to my mom in India in 2016, I explained “he’s like Lalu Yadav” (archetypal modern Indian populist, CM of the state I grew up in through much of my childhood; eventually went to prison for corruption). Now I have to say: Lalu looks more civilized
(comparison limited to countries with actual governments doing some governance, not failed states with warlord cores — those fall outside the 1-4 spectrum)
I'm wondering, seriously, how much he has drunk his own Kool-Aid. I see this as more of his incredible low cunning: this is all very expensive value signaling to a post-Pres audience, e.g. an audition for a major OANN gig. Terrible, but not as terrible as say Nixon would do here.