Perhaps readers have forgotten that Trump displayed an ignorance of science matched only by his attacks on scientific insitututions.
The Trump attack on science was so egregious that respected journals which never took sides in politics felt they had to do so in 2020. During 175 years of publication Scientific American never endorsed a presidential candidate, but in 2020 it broke with tradition and endorsed Biden, declaring, “Donald Trump has badly damaged the U.S. and its people—because he rejects evidence and science. The most devastating example is his dishonest and inept response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” It noted, “Trump has proposed billion-dollar cuts to the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, agencies that increase our scientific knowledge and strengthen us for future challenges. Congress countermanded his reductions. Yet he kept trying, slashing programs that would ready us for future pandemics and withdrawing from the World Health Organization. These and other actions increase the risk that new diseases will surprise and devastate us again.” The damage to these major scientific institutions had to be repaired, along with establishing a science-based response to the COVID-19 pandemic, once Biden took office.
The most prestigious scientific publication of all, Nature, warned in January, 2024, that Trump "promised to limit the authority of federal agencies and employees, including scientists." That would weaken the US, even as US leadership in science and technology is being challenged by other nations that have increased their investment research and education.
Most people recall the later Trump years of the pandemic, when he made silly recomendations about COVID that revealed an astounding ignorance. But his hostility to science was present from the beginning of his presidency. His first budget contained large cuts in key scientific institutions, notably the National Institute of Health.
