Republicans have been cutting school funding for decades for this exact purpose.

Yes a lot of Americans believe those things, because there is an entire economic sector devoted to telling Republicans what they want to hear, presented as news/facts.

These are fearful people.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201612/fear-and-anxiety-drive-conservatives-political-attitudes

We all seek information that confirms our biases, and conservatives are ruled by their fear, largely of the other: People that don't look or act like what they consider normal and safe. They don't want to hear its their employer's greed that's been screwing them for decades and ruining their community's commons for tax breaks, that would make them feel foolish. They want to hear about how all their problems are caused by the people that don't look or act like them, be it race or the people they think dress wrong to them.

Simple explanations for simple, fearful people. The world and it's many crises are obviously more complex than those false, blatant scapegoating explanations of "Them poor brown immigrant people caused inflation!" but confirmation bias is a hell of a drug. They like ms blonde "news" anchor telling them their impulse of clutching their purse or re-locking their car door in the presence of urban people was completely valid.

My impression is that the dumber ones believe whatever is being shoveled at them in the moment and then quickly forget about it as soon as whatever the new outrage is hits, while the smarter ones just use the outrage for attention.

Most of the immigrants I know on unironically vote Trump...