Not OP but I will give it a shot. There is two major things going on here.

One is throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall and seeing what will stick. In a positive way this could be trying a bunch of different good ideas to see what works best.

In a negative way this is used to find ways to debase the situation by finding out what people are least resistant to. Like feeling people out for their negative emotions or feelings.

Think if someone you know constantly suggested dark or negative things until they finally overwhelm you and got you to agree or acquiesce to something you would not otherwise do or accept. They present multiple bad things until you will accept the least bad thing.

The second major thing is using the basic psychology of abuse because a large portion of our population are already in negative abusive situations. This makes them easy targets for abuse and also empowers abusers who are often in control to continue to abuse.

Abusers often feel they have the right to control and restrict others lives. They believe their own needs take priority over others and get off on exerting control and the power it gives them over others.

Abuse cycle is typically something like building on tensions (where we are now), following into acts of violence (where we are heading), followed by reconciliation or love bombing, then some calm before it starts over again.

To put this all together our current administration is abusive and they are pushing our boundaries to see what kind of abuse they can get away with. It is hard to escape an abusive relationship and even harder to escape a country that is in essence abusive itself.

A healthy society, like a healthy person rejects abuse. Part of what makes this administration so effective and arguably so perverse is they recognize we are broken as a society and they are using the worst of us against ourselves. People want change but all they offer is control and manipulation under the guise of protection.