They align with the actual motives of the people involved, which is lining their pockets. "America first" is for the rubes.

The same is true of "fiscal responsibility." The GOP runs on this, but when they get into power they spend like drunks and run the deficit up. This has been true since Reagan, though Trump represents a huge escalation.

The same has been true with the whole "we're going to get rid of these DEI hires and be purely meritocratic." Okay, then why does the head of the FBI need to blow in a tube to start his car and why are a bunch of unqualified former pundits and podcasters in positions of high authority? Why is the head of the CDC a crackpot who can barely talk?

"A thing is what it does." Ignore rhetoric, look at results. BTW the same rule applies to rhetoric from the other side.