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H. Holden Thorpe: "This may be the most shameful moment in the history of U.S. science policy."
This week's editorial in the journal Science, written by the Editor in Chief of this prestigious scientific journal, comments on Trump's decision to lie to the American people about Covid-19, thus killing and severely injuring large numbers of them:
EDITORIAL: Trump lied about science (H. Holden Thorp Editor-in-Chief, Science Journals. Science 18 Sep 2020: Vol. 369, Issue 6510, pp. 1409)
When President Donald Trump began talking to the public about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in February and March, scientists were stunned at his seeming lack of understanding of the threat. We assumed that he either refused to listen to the White House briefings that must have been occurring or that he was being deliberately sheltered from information to create plausible deniability for federal inaction. Now, because famed Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward recorded him, we can hear Trump's own voice saying that he understood precisely that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was deadly and spread through the air. As he was playing down the virus to the public, Trump was not confused or inadequately briefed: He flat-out lied, repeatedly, about science to the American people. These lies demoralized the scientific community and cost countless lives in the United States.
Over the years, this page has commented on the scientific foibles of U.S. presidents. Inadequate action on climate change and environmental degradation during both Republican and Democratic administrations have been criticized frequently. Editorials have bemoaned endorsements by presidents on teaching intelligent design, creationism, and other antiscience in public schools. These matters are still important. But now, a U.S. president has deliberately lied about science in a way that was imminently dangerous to human health and directly led to widespread deaths of Americans.
This may be the most shameful moment in the history of U.S. science policy...
...Trump also knew that the virus could be deadly for young people. “It's not just old, older,” he told Woodward on 19 March. “Young people, too, plenty of young people.” Yet, he has insisted that schools and universities reopen and that college football should resume. He recently added to his advisory team Scott Atlas—a neuroradiologist with no expertise in epidemiology...
...Monuments in Washington, D.C., have chiseled into them words spoken by real leaders during crises. “Confidence,” said Franklin Roosevelt, “thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance.”
We can be thankful that science has embraced these words. Researchers are tirelessly developing vaccines and investigating the origins of the virus so that future pandemics may be prevented. Health care workers have braved exposure to treat COVID-19 patients and reduce the death rate; many of these frontline workers have become infected, and some have died in these acts of courage. These individuals embody Roosevelt's call to faithful protection and unselfish performance.
They have seen neither quality exhibited by their president and his coconspirators. Trump was not clueless, and he was not ignoring the briefings. Listen to his own words. Trump lied, plain and simple.
Over the years, this page has commented on the scientific foibles of U.S. presidents. Inadequate action on climate change and environmental degradation during both Republican and Democratic administrations have been criticized frequently. Editorials have bemoaned endorsements by presidents on teaching intelligent design, creationism, and other antiscience in public schools. These matters are still important. But now, a U.S. president has deliberately lied about science in a way that was imminently dangerous to human health and directly led to widespread deaths of Americans.
This may be the most shameful moment in the history of U.S. science policy...
...Trump also knew that the virus could be deadly for young people. “It's not just old, older,” he told Woodward on 19 March. “Young people, too, plenty of young people.” Yet, he has insisted that schools and universities reopen and that college football should resume. He recently added to his advisory team Scott Atlas—a neuroradiologist with no expertise in epidemiology...
...Monuments in Washington, D.C., have chiseled into them words spoken by real leaders during crises. “Confidence,” said Franklin Roosevelt, “thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance.”
We can be thankful that science has embraced these words. Researchers are tirelessly developing vaccines and investigating the origins of the virus so that future pandemics may be prevented. Health care workers have braved exposure to treat COVID-19 patients and reduce the death rate; many of these frontline workers have become infected, and some have died in these acts of courage. These individuals embody Roosevelt's call to faithful protection and unselfish performance.
They have seen neither quality exhibited by their president and his coconspirators. Trump was not clueless, and he was not ignoring the briefings. Listen to his own words. Trump lied, plain and simple.
Scientists act as if they are above and removed from politics at their own risk, and as pointed out here, at a risk to science itself.