I mean, it's not particularly surprising that it's a lot easier to manage a community if you just find every political split point, pick a side and then remove the people on the other side.
I think we used to call that sort of thing "gatekeeping"?
I think we used to call that sort of thing "gatekeeping"?
Choosing who you let in to your spaces based on criteria you choose is just the normal thing to do.
There's even a large subreddit dedicated to pointing out and mocking gatekeeping and they pretty much all fit that definition.