Focus groups looking ahead to the next election cycle were giving negative feedback. Once the memo goes out all the leftist toadies follow lock step.
You’ve got it. They test everything with secret polling and when they realized how shocked people were they dropped Antifa like a hot potato. The Dems thought that their *cute* little trick of ordering the police to stand down while Antifa does its thug work would not be noticed by the public but people have more tools at their disposal today. You can go on youtube and see dozens of videos of Antifa in action and the comment sections inform people of things they may have missed.