The whole thing was very purposefully talked about using the word “tariff” and never ever its synonym “import tax” exactly so that the traditional Fascist technique of redefining the meaning of words could be easily used: if all the Fascists’ speech had been about “import taxes” they would not have been able to leverage most people’s ignorance anywhere near this level because the very words “import” and “tax” were already reasonably well understood by most - unlike “tariff” - so the opinion makers would not have been able to miseducate their targets anywhere as easily.

I’m not saying that the people who fell for this are to be excused - if there is something important enough for you to put the effort into educating yourself, it’s Politics - I’m saying it’s understandable how so many were so easy to swindle.