Absolutely they think it will stop people. Why do you think people like MTG and Walz are getting out of politics? It's not just because of the threats, it's because they truly believe those threats to be real.

It's really easy to tell someone to ignore threats and carry on, but most of us have never received a message telling you that they intend to murder your entire family, and these people get messages like that every day. All it takes is one insane MAGA, and we know there are lots of them.

Add to that the Conservative Propaganda Machine, and the enthusiastic willingness to use the government to fully oppress their political enemies, and it's easy to understand why most people would just want to slip away from modern American politics. It's not just toxic, it's legitimately dangerous. All it would take is one Tweet from the Maniac-In-Chief, and The Purge is on.