There's no need to invoke "genius" here. Nor to invoke ignorance. Many of those leading Republican propaganda know that they're spouting BS and why its BS. They just don't care, because the truth doesn't really matter to them, except when it can be twisted or cherry-picked to support what they want it to support. They've effectively proven that so very many times that they really, really don't deserve the benefit of the doubt, overall. There's more that can be said, but I think that I'll also note that ignorance certainly tends to play more of a role down the line, sure, though.