He has been called a phoney, a fraud and a threat to democracy — and that is just by members of his own party. Other critics have compared Donald Trump to Hitler and Mussolini. I have shared in the widespread horror at Mr Trump’s rise but at the same time, a small voice in the back of my head has sometimes asked: “Is he really that bad? Might all this hysteria be a bit overdone?”

The death of Nancy Reagan over the weekend served as a reminder of the horror and condemnation that once greeted the rise of her husband, Ronald Reagan. Like Mr Trump, Reagan was labelled a fascist, accused of race baiting and derided as a moron. As a student when Reagan took office, I remember the widespread predictions that he would provoke a world war. And yet Reagan is now securely in the pantheon of “great presidents”. Might Mr Trump make the same journey from odium to acceptance?

It is certainly possible to construct a case in Mr Trump’s defence. If you move beyond the vulgarity of his style and examine his proposed policies, it is clear that on many domestic and foreign policy issues, he is more moderate than several of his “establishment” rivals for the Republican nomination. Mr Trump has argued for closing tax loopholes for high finance and has said the state should guarantee healthcare coverage for all Americans. He has also defended Planned Parenthood, a family planning group regularly savaged by the evangelical right.