Indoctrination is a powerful thing. Perhaps they even believed or wanted to believe themselves.
It takes real effort to push back against the disinformation of the day.
These are people you and everyone else should be familiar with. Their beliefs are well documented. No need for “perhaps.” They’ve written eloquently about their beliefs and an intellectually curious, or merely open minded person, can benefit from exploring those thoughts and ideas. It’s not something to cower in fear of. When people who are more intelligent espouse strongly held beliefs that you don’t understand, that’s a good time to ask more questions rather than close your mind and stop reading.