It's an interesting, if not wholly baffling situation that exists in the US within the Republican and Far Right circles. You do have the outright loons such as this bloke, Taylor Greene, Bobaert and the like and then you have the likes of McCarthy and deSantis who are generally intelligent individuals who have realised that the only way they can win is to appeal to the loons as well as traditional Republican voters.
deSantis was at an anti-mask mandate rally trying to tap into the American lust for freedom and he handed the mic to a nutter who started talking about the vaccines modifying your DNA. You could see the look of incredulity on his face, but he didn't correct him because he knew he'd lose support if he did.
That's why they are all getting vaccinated on the quiet, they know what is right, but they also know that their political future relies on them balancing that with the support of the voters that Trump unearthed and emboldened.
It's why I've always hated Trump, he's borderline supervillain nevemind sociopathic and he'd happily see the world burn.