I like how they claim to be the party of science, and then they say nonsense like this.
They know they cannot piss off the leftist crazies else lose many votes. This is why democracy is just as bad a method to picking societal leaders as is being the child of a king or queen.
I would say, these individuals were being stubbornly and most willfully ignorant. Every one of them knows better, but they all want to cling to their fantasies.
Fantasy may be a wonderful world to visit, but nobody should want to live there. Tends to warp thinking, doncha know.
Warped thinking drives a lot of the misery of this world.