this could definitely be taken as her riffing, tbf, but it does feel plausible considering his very public antipathy toward her entire social circle and industry.

Yeah, they've gotta think at some level he's either one of them, or that he could be turned and so would get his platform, and somehow have having Ed Zitron on his podcast hasn't clarified to them that Conover is the kind of skeptic who debunks their clique, not participates in it.