That’s why I think using a word that isn’t as strong like “weird” is so good, it’s more effective against this tactic.

Democrats have slowed the flow of dishing out “weird”, at the DNC they basically reserved that word just for Tim Walz and maybe one or two other speakers. However, Republicans keep calling themselves out as weird when trying to label totally normal things as that. They effectively are keeping that representation alive to their own detriment.