I think Isaac Asimov said it best -

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

It's become socially acceptable to allow confirmation bias to dictate the media that you consume. People are completely inconsistent in their beliefs as well. There are literally people who believe that causing "Liberal tears" to be a tenable political position. The amount of intellectual dishonesty and just pure bad faith as well as the willful misrepresentation of... just about everything has made me cheer on the deplatforming of certain people. I can't say that I would be okay with the government doing so, but private companies have every right to deplatform anyone who willingly spreads misinformation.

For an example of what I'm talking about, ask T_D users to explain to you what Liberalism, Socialism, and Communism is. Ask them to explain how Obama was a Scoialist/Communist. Ask them basic economic questions. When you do, you'll begin to understand the amount of damage that misinformation and demagoguery has done to political discourse in this country.