It comes from the same place as the deeply held but mutually exclusive beliefs that the government is both totally stupid and incompetent but also so capable and efficient that they are somehow carrying out massive conspiracies on the entire citizenry.

They're not just doing it to do it

well that's part of it, but it's mainly "if we accept that climate change is real, then it's us who are at fault for it; as such we need to discredit and downplay it and anything resulting from it"

like they have a vested interest in saying that it's not a big deal, it's a conscious choice that they're making; they're not being stupid (or at least not in choosing to deny this)

Yeah, there's a "Trudeau started the wildfires as an excuse for carbon taxes" narrative that is insanely popular among the Canadian right wing.

I've even seen some "15 Minute Cities" theorists claiming the fires are being lit in order to "drive people into the liberal cities so the government can control them".

It's just entirely divorced from reality.

It doesn't help that there was a landfill fire nearby right when the wildfire smoke was blowing in. Or that VA was trying to keep it quiet so everyone would just blame the Canada situation for the air being so bad.

Ok, if you were further away it could have smelled different. Up here in NY it smelled like burning trash and plastic and chemicals. It was horrible. I was referring to people who live in the same small town as I do, so they had to smell the same thing.

I don't know why it's so hard to understand that breathing particulate matter into your lungs isn't a good thing... A child should be able to understand this. My 10 and 12 year old INSTINCTIVELY understood this... they pulled their shirts up over their nose on their own when we woke up and went outside on the first bad day.

Same ... it's clear that attempting to convince my own family is just as effective as speaking to a charcuterie board. Want to breathe the smoke? Fine, go ham. I'm fresh out of pity for the science deniers.

I'm 38 with good breathing but I have multiple sclerosis. Wildfires make it so I'm unable to move my legs or do much of anything. It's real and some people are idiots.

Think of all the jobs the wildfires will create!

I especially don't get this "dying to trigger the libs". Interesting tactic I have to say. I am not compelled to try and trigger anyone - are they all trolls now or something? I have more interesting things to do than to cut off my nose to piss someone else off.

The documentary Behind the Curve explores this idea a bit. It follows die hard flat earthers around their daily lives to get to know them a bit more.

There's a running theme throughout the movie that these people weren't very happy with their lives prior to becoming flat earthers. Joining the "movement" gave them instant friends and a sense of direction. There's subtle hints now and again that most don't actually believe the Earth is flat, but they feel like "coming out" would ruin their reputation with their new community.

I get the sense that a lot of right wingers feel the same.

I'd say it's inaccurate to claim right wing media in general is claiming it's a good thing, but as for anyone claiming such, well, there's an example in the article

Greg Kelly on Newsmax blamed them on “our woke friends to the north,” before describing the smoke as “manageable,” “not an unpleasant odor,” and “a beautiful, interesting aura.”