That reminds me of the essay somebody wrote on an estranged parents’ support group forum where they noticed many of the posters constantly claimed that they had no idea why their children no longer wanted to talk to them even though, going by their own posts, their children had actually told them the reason many times over. “Mom, you’re overbearing and controlling, and you never listen to me” clearly couldn’t be the case, so why won’t those ungrateful brat tell us the real reason they don’t want to talk to their loving mothers anymore?!
Same here: By their own admission, the protestors were all willing and open to talk about why they’re against the mandates, but apparently none of those reasons are good enough. There has to be some other “real” reason that more aligns with the host’s worldview.