Yes and no. Even in living memory, the Southern Strategy goes all the way back to the 60s, and explicitly identifies opposition to the civil rights movement as a conservative goal. Going all the way back to the Civil War, it’s undeniable how much the economy of the United States is built on slavery — opposing slavery is thus also an economic argument.
Point being, I don’t think there was some time in the past where economic policy could be so cleanly separated from racial justice, gender equality, queer rights, disability advocacy, and other things that are now seen as “polarizing.” Every economic debate is, I would posit, at least to some significant degree a proxy for a much more critical human rights debate.
Both can be true? He said some mildly pro-queer-rights stuff pretty soon before that all happened, and it’s clear that Grimes calling him out and his daughter disowning him got under his skin. That’s not to defend, not even slightly; rather, the shift in targets and more explicit right-wing affiliation definitely go along with him being (and I wish I could remember who coined this) the most divorced man on the planet.
The moral failings were already there, but now he’s found a big glowing target for his tantrums, unfortunately for us queer folks.