They decided it was better to build a brand ecosystem that could amplify conservative tropes at scale than it was to come up with viable and rational policy positions to help the American people.

Nitpick. They decided it was better to allow these nutjobs to spew their bile because it made them a fuckton of cash. When even people at Fox News started saying “Hey, you think we may be going just a wee bit too far here?”, the response was to continue doing it because they were making a fuckton of cash and becoming more moderate would cede viewers to Newsmax and OANN. CNN held that Trump Town Hall specifically to cater to these people (Granted, that backfired on them spectacularly). Even CNN now has started catering to a limited degree to these people because there’s just too much money to be made placating idiots and their conspiracy theories.

They know it’s all bullshit. They even knew this would happen. They just didn’t care because they were swimming in cash.