Donald Trump is already normalized
I will criticize Trump when he is wrong, and I will support him when he is right. That ought to be our mentality toward all of our elected officials.
One thing I am seeing more often, alongside calls to "resist" President Trump, is that we must not "normalize" him. That train has already left the station. Trump won the 2024 election in a decisive manner, and he has already served four years as President. You do not get much more "normalized" than serving two terms as President, especially having made a nearly unprecedented comeback from losing the 2020 election to winning four years later. The only other time an incumbent won a second term after losing re-election was when Grover Cleveland did it in 1892.
I will do the same thing I did before: I will criticize Trump when he is wrong, and I will support him when he is right. That ought to be our mentality toward all of our elected officials, from the President down to township board. Intellectual honesty should be our guiding principle. We should not excuse Trump where we would not excuse others, and we should not condemn Trump where we would not condemn others.
What I resist is the "all or nothing" cult mentality from both sides. Too much of "MAGA" sees any criticism as betrayal or disloyalty, even when Trump is doing things they would oppose if done by a Democrat - or another Republican. Too much of the "resistance" sees any support of Trump's policies as inexcusable "normalization" of a "fascist." Even some conservative "Never Trump" folks refuse to recognize that policies they support - such as deregulation, tax cuts and defending religious freedom - are good simply because Trump is the one implementing them.
I have no real hope that intellectual honesty will replace tribalism in how many people view President Trump, whether positively or negatively. For those in the intellectual honesty camp, though, this is a perspective worth defending against both sides.