There are two kinds of spokespersons. One is the Obvious Authority, somebody with formal cred: "Former National Security Advisor", "Secretary of State", "Climate Scientist", "Possessor of a Three-Digit IQ". Somebody your left brain awards a high credibility rating.

But there's another kind, the avatar. The shill. The judas goat. The spoke that some part of the audience relates to, and believes through sympathetic vibration. Most importantly, somebody they'll instinctively turn to for reassurance after they've been brainwashed by decades of rightwing propaganda into rejecting rationality and the elitist concepts of "knowledge" and "competence".

Ever met a katrina in real life? (How long before Urban Dictionary adds "katrina" as a genderless term for whatever Katrina Pierson is?) 'Course you have. And they're just eatin' up that katrina-spew with spoons. It's comfort food to a certain part of the electorate.

What part of the electorate? George Wallace got 14% of the popular vote in 1968, and I think that percentage has remained relatively constant over the years: That's Donald Trump's floor today. 14% of the electorate are katrinas.