Trump was near universally hated by those who were most familiar with him in NY and NJ. He was (and still is) considered a blowhard who discriminated against an

Trump was near universally hated by those who were most familiar with him in NY and NJ. He was (and still is) considered a blowhard who discriminated against and displaced people of color in his real estate projects; ran tacky, shady, constantly failing business operations; and refused to honor his agreements, stiffing contractors and business partners and bullying people with his unearned wealth. His national reputation was mostly based on The Apprentice and his PR efforts. It's not a surprise that people changed their opinion of him when he announced he was running, because in his announcement he accused Mexico of actively sending criminals to the US, and his solution was a humanitarian, ecological, and financial disaster of a wall. This of course would not even address the majority of policy violations in immigration (over staying visas). His ridiculous promise that Mexico would pay for it was also an obvious farce. It was a wake up call to people who had previously not scrutinized him very much, particularly in a political context. What's "weird" is that anyone took him seriously after that.