Trump is both a symptom, of some deeper underlying issues, and a cause, of feed-forwarding those same issues - e.g. amplifying their power and their spread beyond what they would have done without his help.

Many people thought that Ron Desantis would take Trump’s place - that speaks to Trump being a mere symptom. However, Ron had no chance to win the the overall presidential election - that speaks to how crucial Trump is specifically to it, in its current form I mean.

The Alt Right Playbook, by Innuendo Studios, describes conservatism so much better than I ever could though.