Yes he did and that's exactly the point. No one is fetishizing him but if you were paying attention you recall his position after 1/6 - no one is praising him as a great guy, for christ's sake, only using him as example that GOPs don't have to be slavish dimwit followers.
A strong GOP example - the GOP SCOTUS justices. JUST THIS WEEK - they encouraged bribery, they encouraged fraud (on Wall Street), the weakened the EPA, and they protected the toxic, super-rich Sackler family from opioid lawsuits.
The GOP - THE ENTIRE PARTY - is a danger to the US. Trump can't do Project 2025, fascism, etc all by himself. But boldface dems like Biden say "We need a strong Republican Party." And who would lead that, eh?