What is a populist?

[Hortensis]

9. Yours is the imagining of earnest supporters of change,

Tom, but, although some are always attracted, those are not what define and make populist movements the tools to destroy nations they so often are.

Your "true," defining populists have to be the ones who make it possible for leaders to overthrow governments by harnessing their aggressive antagonism to "the establishment." I don't know if Mudde said it above, but populist leaders can be of almost any ideology and still harness that energy to their ends. Just need to be charismatic, strongman leaders who can convince potential followers that they'll provide invincible mobs to join and roll over everyone else. No need to go into much detail about what comes next. Angry energy never asks to get it in writing, much less reads the small print.