The issue here is not that Barbara is confused and believes the propaganda that Trump is a businessman, the issue here is that Barbara is a racist and anti-abortion fanatic who tells a journalist lies and gets printed in the newspaper.

These aren't people the poor, benighted journalists are just meeting for the first time. The person writing about Barbara knows who she is, knows what she's about. They've probably used her for a quote before this.

Who is Barbara? Why do I care what weird crap she thinks?

Exactly. I'd bet good money that Barbara is very well off, too.

Shocking to me the editor/writer at the NY times is worse at googling people/social media than your average tween girl with a crush. Or rather they aren't worse at it, they think we are. Which is frankly insulting

I know enough Barbaras already who are pleasant and interesting people. By this time tomorrow, I will have forgotten that this one who isn't either of those things exists.

If only we could never ever hear that man’s name again for as long as the sun burns and even after when it expands to destroy us and then still after when it collapses and drags our blasted remnants with it.

And we should note that the journalist is not being fooled here; the lack of due diligence is deliberate.

She may also believe that Trump is a good businessman. She clearly believes other kinds of propaganda. But it’s not why she’s voting for him. She’s voting for him because he tells her that he hates who she hates.

They're all racists. Back in 2016 you could make the case that some of them were just dopey rubes who watched The Apprentice. But they've had 8 years now to see who he really is. And they like it. They're all racists.

As you’ve ably demonstrated, another problem is credulity (charitably) of the journalists who wrote this piece. Googling your interviewees seems like some pretty basic journalistic praxis.