i think the problem there is a lot of Americans have internalized liberal to mean "not a bloodthirsty bigot." Any level of advocacy for queer people, racial minorities, religions other than white American protestantism, the homeless, anything resembling basic social equality will sound like liberalism to them and immediately make them lose interest. That's one of the better things Settlers talks about

the people who hate liberals (who aren't us) look for mutual ideology by testing the limits of how much bigotry they can express. a common experience for white people in America is at some point being alone with other white people and they'll gently prod and poke to see how many racist things they can say before getting called out, because that's what they look for to feel connected. mutual feeling of supremacist, bigoted authority