Less than two days after contracting COVID-19, US President Donald Trump left Walter Reed medical facility for a brief motorcade ride with Secret Service agents to wave to his supporters. A week later, he returned to the campaign trail, addressing tens of thousands of Americans across various cities and states, who stood should-to shoulder, without masks, just like their president, chanting “FOUR MORE YEARS!” and “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”.
Given his obsession with optics, it is unsurprising that Trump has since then justified his heavily criticized actions as inviolable duties of a truly strong and brave leader in the face of adversity. However, his blatant disregard for science and public health guidelines in the midst of a crippling pandemic has also emboldened a portion of the American public to do the same, inevitably slowing the country’s response to the devastating crisis.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the president has made a range of bizarre and unfounded claims about the novel coronavirus, claiming it that it would just “disappear”, musing at one point that injecting bleach into the body could be a potential cure, and dismissing the efficacy of masks in containing the spread of the virus—all of which (minus the bleach) continue to remain an integral part of his messaging despite his own bout with the disease. In boasting about his “immunity” to the virus and flouting restrictions, Trump has not only sought to portray himself as a strongman but has also endorsed this erroneous idea that believing science and committing to positive public health outcomes and is a matter of personal choice and that anyone who says otherwise is infringing on individuals’ constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and liberties.
The persistence of such faulty messaging focused on pitting individual liberties and progress against each other, combined with Trump’s aggressive vilification of public health experts and media platforms that relay their advice, has simultaneously also undermined public trust in mainstream scientific opinion and international institutions, which has resulted in America—who at face value was perhaps best prepared to fight this pandemic—being catastrophically overmatched by the invisible adversary, sustaining more casualties than any other nation.
Trump’s denial, misuse, and manipulation of science, however, is not just limited to his coronavirus response. His administration has, across multiple government agencies, systematically undermined scientific integrity by suppressing or distorting evidence to support political decisions. An analysis by The Washington Post states that, between 2017-19, more than 1,600 federal scientists were “forced out, sidelined or muted” by the government, and at the beginning of 2020, one-fifth of the high-level positions in science were still vacant.
The absence of specialists has had disastrous consequences on issues like the environment, where the president and his appointees have reversed efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, weakened industry guidelines aimed at limiting pollution, and diminished the role of science at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). What’s worse is that important roles are instead being filled by proud climate change deniers, which makes it that much harder to not only adequately respond to very real and immediate threats, such as the deadly wildfires currently engulfing the western states of the country, but also institute policies that are even remotely aimed at saving the planet. Consequently, individual rights and material consumption now take precedence over anything else, regardless of the consequences.
And, to be clear, the consequences of such selfishness are staggering. Not just for America, but the entire world. A recent New York Times report found that Trump’s dismantling of federal climate policies will add an additional 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by 2035—more than the combined annual emissions of Germany, Britain, and Canada. While a different US administration may be able to reverse some of the damage done by the current leadership, Trump has cost the country and the planet valuable time. The US’ exit from the Paris climate accords will be formalized on November 4, one day after the election, and though former Vice President Joe Biden has promised to rejoin the agreement if he is elected, the US’s actions over the last four years have significantly hurt its credibility. Therefore, it’s difficult to see the US being able to exert the kind of influence it did prior to 2016 to encourage more nations to get on board.
Perhaps the most damning problem plaguing Trump’s entire presidency, which has only further fueled his war on science and the environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is his absolute focus on his message and image, and nothing else: the idea that America is the greatest country in the world; that he is the savior this country needed; that China is the root of all evil and disaster; and that nobody can tell American people what to do or infringe upon their beliefs, freedoms, and thoughts, no matter their expertise.
Propagating this false sense of agency and bravado has, of course, exacted a horrific toll on the American populace. More troubling still is that remnants of this attitude and its effects will, unfortunately, linger long after Trump’s tenure comes to an end due to the manner in which he has abused his position of authority to reshape the definition of science in America. While the Trump administration sees it as a way to win votes and gain media market share, what Trump fails to understand is that ignoring scientific expertise does not indicate anti-establishment badassery. It is stupid at best, and extremely dangerous at worst, and what we’re seeing right now is nothing short of catastrophic.
However, Gina McCarthy, the former head of the EPA under Obama, told The Guardian that COVID-19 may have presented science an “unexpected gift” in highlighting the costs of ignoring and suppressing the truth. The upcoming election will be the ultimate test of whether this has resonated with the broader American population. “It will be the people against polluters, experts against those winging it, scientists against the peddlers of misinformation. The question is, who is going to win?”
Trump’s War on Science Has Left America Vulnerable to Disaster
The president has pitted individual liberties and progress against each other, paving the way for disastrous consequences for the American people.
October 25, 2020
SOURCE: SCIENCE MAGAZINE