There’s also just no creativity. I’m pretty sure I saw a new “let’s go Brandon” sign out and about recently. By this point that is very nearly a three year old meme. Like, I’m not really surprised that they can’t do better, but it’s a little telling that they come up with one thing they think is “good” and stuck with it basically though Biden’s entire presidency. “Creatively bankrupt” does not even begin to describe it.
Absolutely. So much of the right wing media space is inhabited by, funded by, and glorifies grifters that they’ve created a constant chunk of their audience that is vulnerable to their tactics. Values or policy prescriptions don’t even really need to come into it, if you are a grifter it’s just a smart business decision to start drifting to the right. It opens up those audiences to you because you are “one of them”.