Many voters are willing to accept misinformation from political leaders – even when they know it’s factually inaccurate. According to our research, voters often recognize when their parties’ claims are not based on objective evidence. Yet they still respond positively, if they believe these inaccurate statements evoke a deeper, more important “truth.”
This said it’s both parties (inb4 “both parties are fascist”). This would seem to apply to things like “J.D. Vance fucks couches.” Do Democrats know it’s false? Of course. But he’s weird, and doing that is weird, so they’re willing to keep saying it. Yes, it’s a joke, but it also seems to match what’s described in the article.