This is a typical pattern, not only applied in the US. Some problem has been repeatedly blamed on a group of people for so long that the society starts to polarize. The "good" and the "bad". Then you simply go to the majority and promise them you'd get rid of the bad minority for them. That's just to get their vote, however, you don't actually have to do anything about it after being elected. So a lot of empty words had been said that are never going to come true, because this article depicts it perfectly - those actions make no sense.