In addition to the replies below, I think something you have to consider when asking this question is does it matter? For the past 13 months I've been telling friends, family, and anyone who will listen the reaction is overblown, and eventually someone asks this question. At some point it occurred to me it doesn't make a difference what their motives are, the fact remains masks don't work, lockdowns don't work, and civil liberties are being trampled across the world. Trying to understand the motives of people who support such policies is pointless, and distracts from the fact these policies are wrong.

If someone persists with this line of questioning, my response is simply I don't know, but I also don't know why anyone would bomb another country, why tyrants have existed throughout history (including today) and why they would kill millions, why people shoot up schools, etc. etc. etc.

There is a long list of evils in this world, and trying to understand what motivates those people committing these acts is irrelevant to the fact they are wrong. You're likely never going to understand anyway, b/c you have to think differently in order to come up with any justification. It's no different here. You can ask why would they lie or obfuscate the data when they know it's just theater, but that question misses the point that some people will do that and worse, period. Why they do it is irrelevant. That's my two cents anyway.