"Reading about this swindle, I found myself wondering why it rankled me so much," writes Andrew Egger. "After all, this is hardly the first time Trump and his family have cashed in on his cult of personality to part his superfans from their cash. Indeed, for many MAGA superfans, being endlessly shaken down for cash via a blizzard of unbelievably sleazy campaign-solicitation texts and emails has become a defining feature of their digital lives. And that's to say nothing of Trump's crypto projects, Trump's NFTs, Trump's guitars, Trump's sneakers, Trump's watches - I could go on."

Or maybe it just strikes me as so sordid because of the political landscape in which it's unfolding. Donald Trump, who swept back into office last year with approval ratings in the 50s and an unprecedented political coalition at his back, has been hemorrhaging voters ever since. His second-term approval has never been lower"in fact, it hit another new low just today. Pretty much every voter outside his cult has already headed for the hills. And yet that stubborn 35ish percent of the electorate remains, eyes screwed shut, fingers wedged in their ears, unhappy with the state of the economy, unhappy with the state of the country, unhappy with the state of the world"but still convinced beyond all reason or persuasion that their political messiah, Donald Trump, is about to turn it all around.

This is remarkable, unprecedented political loyalty. Without it, Trump could never have gotten back to where he is today"and he'd certainly be in no position to shake down the sheikhs. And how does his family repay this loyalty? By selling his poor dumb true believers a vaporware phone.