I think you're hung up on the use of the word "real." If he had posed the question as "what are the necessary attributes/values of a conservative?" and then stated what he thought there would be no one crying fallacy, even though there is no difference in the content of the question.
That's a better question because it allows you to more easily specifically get at what conservatives have in common. It's so easy to refute an argument by using the "Well, but no
real conservative thinks like that." It kind of strayed into that because we accurately noted that politicians describing themselves as "conservative" don't follow through on their small government rhetoric (if they were
really a conservative, they'd do more than pay lip service for a small government), but I would argue that certainly doesn't make them progressive or even moderate.
As I said, I think the only thing "conservative" people really have in common is some type of affinity for tradition. You can be a conservative statist, IMO (that's what Trump is, at least in some ways). I just think when you're talking about conservatism, you have to define more specifically what you mean and on what issue. Trump is thought of, especially by people on the left, as some kind of extreme, hardcore conservative. Well, I suppose he is depending on what issue you're talking about.
He has a very conservative, hardline view on immigration. It's by far his most conservative position. The tax cuts he supported and signed into law are conservative orthodoxy. But what about the tariffs? That was a Democrat, union, talking point for years. He's the biggest protectionist president we've had in generations. He wants to leave weed legalization up to the states. He's commented only very briefly on gay marriage, saying it's "settled law," and in the past supported it. He was pro-choice for a very long time before he decided to run as a Republican.
On the whole, he appears to me to be socially moderate/liberal, and his fiscal policies are a unique fusion of both conservative and liberal ideas.