Nothing before the assassination made me suspect he was trying to leave or pivot away rather than conceding some talking points which were becoming unpopular to the point of becoming a detriment to keep bringing up. There's nothing unusual about having your puppet take the occasional shot at you to maintain credibility either.
I could see some utility in his death for the sake of pushing forward certain policies, yet even that seems to be less than I'd have expected.
You know why you can never leave the mafia, right?
Nothing before the assassination made me suspect he was trying to leave or pivot away rather than conceding some talking points which were becoming unpopular to the point of becoming a detriment to keep bringing up. There's nothing unusual about having your puppet take the occasional shot at you to maintain credibility either.
I could see some utility in his death for the sake of pushing forward certain policies, yet even that seems to be less than I'd have expected.