It’s not about giving the benefit of the doubt. It’s about accurately identifying the thing you object to. It may be more fun to say “What they really mean is X” (see also “when you say MAGA, you are really saying make America white again”) and there may be a place for such rhetoric (see previous parenthetical) but when people assert that this is literally what was being said they lose credibility. The people Conway is talking about look outside and see their city on fire and people in masks attacking business owners and people getting shot. Republicans say “We see the violence and we’ll do something about it” and Democrats (or progressives more generally) say “What violence? All I see are peaceful protests. She must be talking about causing some.” It’s unproductive.
You can disagree that Republicans have the answer without pretending that they’re asking a different question.
