Actually nobody cared until he ran as a Republican the 2nd time, or was that the 3rd? Oh, wait, the 2nd time he almost ran, the laughter was so loud he backed out before formally getting into the race.
The 1st time everyone laughed too, and every time he ran or considered it - including as a Reform Party candidate - no one took him seriously and took it only as a publicity stunt to promote the upcoming season of The Celebrity Apprentice.
Even in that run for the 2016 election, everyone still laughed all the way to Fox and deep into GOPers in Congress filled a lot of half of the year.
So you are correct, nobody cared about him whatsoever until the latter half of 2016, and I'm talking the fanbase here.