Anybody who is reasonably intelligent, has been paying attention, and is still an active advocate for the GOP, is already quite comfortable with the darker side of propaganda.

That these people are universally espousing a version of events that they no doubt know to be false shouldn’t surprise anyone. This is standard operating procedure for fascist political parties, of which the GOP is only the most recent example.

This isn’t anything new. Indeed, this is a very old thing indeed. It’s just that most intellectually capable and honest Americans aren’t quite used to it yet. Why do you think fascist political movements always attack intellectuals? (initially rhetorically, later physically) They do it because intellectuals feel obligated to point out lies and distortions, and because they are generally resistant to this kind of propaganda.