A lot of them honestly believe the last sentence. They believe it because of ignorance, fear, insecurity, the desire to bully, etc., then it's calcified with propaganda, but at the start it's often simple stuff like "I grew up thinking men were men and women were women, and that was it."
What they're saying will resonate with a lot of people who could be brought around under the right circumstances. You're not going to reach anyone hooked into the culture war machine, but your right-leaning "I'm not real political" folks? Your younger folks who grew up Republican, largely vote Republican, but who kind of give a shit about people? Your regressive boomer Dems? They could go either way, but this sort of comment won't register as dishonest with them.
Rightwingers being this dishonest just leads to everyone taking them even less seriously.
A lot of them honestly believe the last sentence. They believe it because of ignorance, fear, insecurity, the desire to bully, etc., then it's calcified with propaganda, but at the start it's often simple stuff like "I grew up thinking men were men and women were women, and that was it."
What they're saying will resonate with a lot of people who could be brought around under the right circumstances. You're not going to reach anyone hooked into the culture war machine, but your right-leaning "I'm not real political" folks? Your younger folks who grew up Republican, largely vote Republican, but who kind of give a shit about people? Your regressive boomer Dems? They could go either way, but this sort of comment won't register as dishonest with them.
They've been lying for hundreds of years and they are still as popular as ever. Disregarding them is dangerous.