“Populist” is one of those terms people throw around, like “Fascist” when somebody disagrees with a politician.
I am a Nationalist, because I believe Nations are the way to organize the diverse peoples on this planet, and they should live in a country where there are shared values and culture. And they should be free to trade in a matter that benefits that nation, and not be dictated by NGOs.
A good definition of populist, in my book, is one who has grievances with the government, or the rich. Trump stokes this hard, especially on the anti-government side. However, a populist’s solution is not to reduce the government, as would a conservative, but the populist simply wants to re-target it, typically with taking more from the rich, and giving to the less fortunate.
I support nationalism, but only to an extent. Because nationalism, when taken to its final form, is centralization of government at the national level, with little to no state independence. It’s also expecting people to actually worship the state, and its leaders. Kim Yung Un is the ultimate nationalist, for example.
Look at this, from just yesterday, or recently...
In a Christian Nationalist rant, Michael Flynn told pastors to “put the Bible aside and read the Constitution” during their sermons.
https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1689266779514679296
See #48.