

I don’t think it’s that. His supporters know he’s a pedophile and they like it. He likes Russia because he’s invested in their markets, their oligarchs bribe him and his cadre, and because he and his ilk intend to make America into another Russia. It’s little saint James all the way down.
Because if you do the one-time tax, people might start asking for a permanent rise in billionaire taxes. When it succeeds, people might start asking about broader redistribution policies.
They cannot allow one single victory, because any momentum to the left threatens their absolute power, and wherever possible will crush it under their heel.