Everyone who supports authoritarianism thinks they're going to be the exception. They can see other people who their politics denigrates as outsiders easily, but they could never be outsiders because they're them and they buy into the bullying. They think signalling that they're on board with mistreating other people will protect them from being mistreated, but all it does in reality is create a society where no one is safe.

Even the powerful people who buy into this thinking will find that it bites them in the ass eventually. They may be late on the list, but they're still on the list. Eventually either the ever-shrinking circle of "insiders" will exclude them, or they'll be in the last in-group once they've alienated the rest of society and put their own safety at risk. Every dictator is terrified of this, because they've seen how it plays out. They're just gambling that it won't happen to them, but eventually the mob will come. The best they can hope for is to delay it as long as possible.

But queer Republicans? Republicans of color? Disabled Republicans? Republican women even? They're on the chopping block from the start and are only surrounding themselves with the people who want to diminish them while alienating anyone who might genuinely want to help.

All the more reason they can't look directly at it. They think if they don't make eye contact or try to fight back or run, the predator won't come for them. They couldn't be more wrong.