Because the USSR was "authoritarian" and that makes them right wing.
Political Science is a real field of inquiry and Political Scientists are real scientists who deserve to be taken seriously, and other lies.
The shit political scientists say is just baffling. Like whether you like the USSR or not, defining right wing politics as being "authoritarian" is just bizzarely ignorant and weird. And, like, the definition of a nation state is partially an entity which effectively monopolizes the legitimate use of force within it's borders, so what the fuck does authoritarian even mean? Authority is the definition of a state, it's what makes a state a state. Fucks sake.
I don't think the previous generations of elites had a correct understanding of politics and the world either so if it isn't broken(they're still the elites) they wont fix it.
Their understanding will become worse until they are finally kicked out.