You can literally watch this stuff real time on the internet now. Trump does something awful. Conservatives online are confused and start asking questions. Talking points from Fox News come out and basically every single conservative online is parroting the party talking points handed down to them. No more confusion.
Thank you for pointing this pattern out. I've seen it time and time again, most prominently after Jan 6. I think a big part is the manipulation of online spaces, e.g. the subreddits - threads and comments counter the narrative are quickly deleted, and they start piling onto anyone who still disagrees, calling them RINOs and so on.
I always wonder what that must be like. There is no authority I trust and believe as much as they do Fox News or Trump. There's no simple answer, no easy solution. Trying to figure out what actually happened can take days, weeks, even years. And even then, it might remain unclear and there's often no certainty to be had. But for them, the answer, the cause, whatever, is there for them the very next evening. In bite-sized nuggets they can repeat without thinking.
