They will paint the next legit candidate though as another Trump. You already saw that with DeSantis. And it will go on and on.
Silk trust me I hope this isn't the case. The polarization is horrible. It has gotten worse every cycle it seems in my lifetime, with the last 8 years being in a category of its own. The Dems have had success with the "Trump is bad" campaign message for a few cycles now, and associating anyone they can to Trump. And if doing that means you get power, I don't see it changing as a political tactic.
People generally make "politics" way to much of someone's identity now. I do my best to avoid that - in fact I was talking about this with my kids last night. They were asking me if I know who some of my friends and acquaintances in our town are voting for, and I said I do not, nor do I care. I told them I care that they are good people by virtue of their actions - to me, my family, you kids, in our community and the like. If they are, I like them. If they aren't, I probably don't. Who they vote for -- could care less. But I think I'm in the minority these days when it comes to that viewpoint.