If you've been breathing more easily of late and aren't sure why, you likely didn't grow up in a house where gaslighting was the norm. To be gaslit is painful. Having one's reality denied is a form of psychological torture. And even though plenty of people have been gaslit alongside you, it's still hard when non-political people and the press can't see what is so obvious to you
What broke the spell was when we stopped yelling "Can't you see the emperor is naked!" and simply said, "He's weird"