Hello, and welcome to conservatism. They'll make whatever mouth noises sound like justification for whatever they want, next. Disprove their argument and they'll pick a new one. It has no relation to their conclusion. They don't understand why it should.
They do not evaluate claims. In their worldview, that is not what claims are for. You simply accept or reject them based on interpersonal trust. That is how you perform ingroup loyalty.
And I say "you" because they think you're doing the same thing. They think that's all there is.