You must keep in mind that a good portion of U.S. citizens can't even read, and have similar deficiencies around critical thinking. Couple this with a purpose built media landscape and social media slop that are actively trying to convince you that Trump is the savior of the republic, a man who shits gold, the perfect physical specimen 100% of the time; and it should not be too surprising that he managed to get elected, especially against weak or ill-timed candidates.
The right wing propaganda machine works very very well, look how well they've absolutely ingratiated things like trans issues into the political zeitgeist in just a hand full of years, and strongly coupled them with the Democratic brand. The Democrats have a huge problem in that they are effectively as or more unpopular than Trump. They've also lacked real leadership for 10 years.
