Yes it was always performative but it was systemically targeted and dismantled by Robbie Starbuck (and his ilk) using boycotts (edit: and harassment) campaigns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robby_Starbuck

the buck stops here

Doesn’t give an actual reason

Nah man, this is recency bias, pre internet science was generally well regarded and respected. There is empirical evidence to support this even over just the last 10 years.

https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/11/14/americans-trust-in-scientists-positive-views-of-science-continue-to-decline/

I’ve been ramping up my de-googling for this exact reason, I wish I had done it years ago but complacency is a bitch

The right killed dei solely using boycotts

We can only control what we can control