"The difference between the factions is that progressives fundamentally trust whatever the government is saying whereas the conservative fundamentally is skeptical of whatever the government is saying."

I'm not sure that's entirely correct. I'm skeptical about almost everything, and I would undoubtedly fall left of center in the USA. On some matters, I would probably be "progressive". Yet I'm skeptical.

Sometimes it's just "does the government/person/organization have an angle or something to gain?". So, for example, masks...no they don't. So I don't think much more about it (and then studies indicated that masks reduced transmission, which I file away in the "evidence for" folder). Other things demand more evidence before I'll accept them. I usually hear this phrase with respect to religion, but I apply it to almost everything: the more extraordinary the claim, the greater the evidence that is required to accept it. So if you say you have a puppy, that is a common thing. No evidence required. If you say there is a nationwide conspiracy to silence conservatives and steal elections, that will require a LOT of evidence.