Lemmy isn't a monolith, and understanding that the fediverse has set itself up as an alternative to centralised platforms, I don't think we should be surprised when trolls who tend to get banned on those other platforms find their way here.

Of course we're going to see a lot of reactionary opinions here. These are the reactionaries that are too reactionary for reddit. They've learned to be less overt in their views because lemmy can excise a whole instance that's just reactionary.

I'd say right now they're trying to radicalise the normies. Vote manipulation is probably part of that strategy to make their views look more accepted than they are.