The general scholarly consensus is that he did in fact exist. The only thing really up for debate is what he did or didn’t do, and who he was or was not the son of.
To say that a thing existed - oh, except all these other things attributed to the thing are just bullshit, so you can ignore them - really does preclude the actual existence of the thing. Nobody cares if Jesus of Nazareth, the prehistoric huckster but otherwise normal human “existed.” So did Rudy of Nazareth, but he was a used chariot salesman, and he didn’t get lionized into mythology.
To say that a thing existed - oh, except all these other things attributed to the thing are just bullshit, so you can ignore them - really does preclude the actual existence of the thing. Nobody cares if Jesus of Nazareth, the prehistoric huckster but otherwise normal human “existed.” So did Rudy of Nazareth, but he was a used chariot salesman, and he didn’t get lionized into mythology.