It is worth taking a moment to think about how extraordinary it is for a political party to become more beholden to a former president after he loses. Nobody was running as a proud supporter of Jimmy Carter in the 1982 midterms or as a George H. W. Bush Republican in 1994. A Republican seeking office in 1934 would not cower in fear of Herbert Hoover’s wrath were they to criticize his handling of the early stages of the Great Depression. And yet, despite losing to President Biden, Trump has maintained dominance over the party.

This is no accident. In fact, this really gets to the heart of Trump’s behavior since his 2020 defeat. Trump intuitively understands that defeated presidential candidates lose their grip on their party and, pretty soon, lose all relevance. This is why it is so important to Trump to keep denying his 2020 defeat, and why he feels he has to scare away other Republicans from challenging his stolen-election claims.

By successfully policing compliance, Trump has actually emerged from defeat with a Republican Party that more closely resembles him than it did when he left the White House.