It was ice cream and cash.
The thing is, they would have (and did, actually) elected a potted plant instead of Trump.
That's how bad TDS has damaged their ability to reason, and use logic.
We saw it for 4+ years in the media, from elected politicians (of both parties), and big tech. No matter what Trump did, no matter how much good anything he did was for we citizens and for the country, they were against it. Period.
Once they reach that point in their "thinking", and with their willingness and ability to cheat, Trump never stood a chance.