I think 2016 and beyond really broke people's minds. And I don't say that smugly as I went through it all myself too. You had a neck-breaking swerve into full fascism from mainstream conservatives. I remember after Charlottesville knowing there was no going back, it was a 9/11 level turning point..

i still am in awe that charlottesville even happened

...and faced with actual Nazis, proudly open authoritarians, the justifiable reaction, especially online, was to exclude any idea of nuance, since, really, there is no nuance against this modern reactionary extremism. That's become a habit now though, and it's detrimental to all other interactions.