Gadol > Rs can move beyond Trump (and the Trump waanabees) and find a principled conservative
I think you are right on D “free stuff” context and I also do not see how it can be avoided, once the sharks smell the (free) blood in the water already, but I think you are misreading R- direction. Trump disturbed R-s rules of the game and was proven right in most cases: discarding polite campaigning and not responding to lies by Romney; fear of recognizing Yerushalaim; free (one-sided) market with China; ISIS; Ukraine; 5 years for vaccines, taxes, making D- into a pretzel by eliminating SALT; increasing Spanish vote. So, any future R leader has to integrate these new ideas somehow, it is impossible to go back. Even Biden recognizes it and continues many policies whenever he is not pressed by Commies.