Yes, I do think "The Short-Fingered Vulgarian" lit the match! Intentionally. He is whipping up the crowds, using their emotion - the hatred, the anger, the frustration. That's the brand!
And the fire is raging. It is amazing to see folks jumping right into the fire. You wonder where this goes. Does it ramp up into a major fire-ball, or fizzle out? I think: no one really knows. Yes, it does remind one of George Wallace. And that didn't work out so well. The Short-Fingered Vulgarian is the conduit for some real basic ugliness now flaming up in the land.