Have you considered that your dad may be suffering from the early stages of dementia? If he had always had extreme right wing views and ignored Covid19 precautions, then probably not. But you describe someone who has recently become much more rigid while finding it impossible to conduct a conversation. Also the fact that he later apologised to you is interesting. Get him checked out because there is now a lot you can do to slow dementia down and even reverse it and the earlier you start the better.