The way it was explained to me is more complicated.

It’s about hierarchy. The higher you are in the imagined hierarchy, the more things don’t apply to you.

The president is at the top, so he can do anything.

The WASP housewife is in the middle, so she can get an abortion because her case is special.

The minority commits all crimes and is killing babies.

So, it’s not contradictory in their mind, they literally think they’re better, and it’s why there’s value in having people lower than them in their mental system.

So I'm going to be that guy. It wasn't until Nixon and his southern strategy that the modern Republican Party became the Party we know today. The coalitions that formed the political parties before then were based more on tradition and geography than on ideology. The Republican Party has been moving ever more rightward (and pulling the Democratic Party along with it) since Reagan. America doesn't even have a Center-Left party anymore as result of this.