What you're describing (if you mean ... then yes, I am a populist) is exactly the problem with anything that is populist, and I think it's troubling that he tried to wear it as a badge of honor.

The mark of it is that the language used leaves no room for disagreement, which is dishonest, but easy to wrap in rhetorical trickery. Populism is especially a potent factor in communism and fascism, because there can be no dissent in those power structures, which is why people are rightly on-guard against populism.

If you don't go along, then you aren't helping "the party" and by extension, "the people". It doesn't matter if you disagree on X, because Y (free college) is so important that if you do anything or say anything against it, then you must be an enemy of the people, and you'll soon be lined up to be shot. The main irony is that DJT is 10X the populist that Bernie ever was.