>>936454845 (OP)honestly - fox melted their brains by constantly moving the goalposts on what it meant to be a "real" republican.
for 20 years, it was the myth of Reagan, but by 2000, it was about winning power, which meant more ratings.
Then they realized that if you just straight up lie, no one will question it. And if you just out yell anyone that has an opposing opinion, then you never have to actually critically examine whether your "policies" work or not.
Social media made it worse. Getting hits on the most outrageous thing you could conceive just keeps pushing the weirdos to go further and further.
Not that the Dems are much better on the rational examination of their policies, but there is not a centralized voice on in every bar/ military base/gym/barber shop that is constantly indoctrinating them, so the views are more diffuse.