Donald Trump’s complete disdain for both intellectualism and science in general are impacting his ability to serve as President. Trump has still not appointed a science advisor to head the White House Office of Science And Technology Policy, making this the longest stretch in that office’s history of not having a permanent leader. This isn’t by accident, as Ring of Fires’ Farron Cousins explains.
Transcript:
The Trump administration, more than 390 days into their administration, still does not have a full time science advisor for the White House, for the office of science and technology. This marks the longest time since that particular office in the White House was created in 1976, the longest period since it was created, that it has not had a leader. Not a head.
And there’s a very good reason for that. It’s not just because Trump hasn’t appointed anybody because he doesn’t know anybody who knows anything about science, it’s because Donald Trump openly hates science, and more importantly he openly hates people that are smarter than him. And obviously, if you’re going to appoint somebody to be the head of your science advisory board, they’re going to have to be smarter than you. They’re going to have to know more than you, and they’re going to have to educate you.
That’s not something that a pompous guy like Donald Trump is okay with, so of course he hasn’t nominated anybody for this position, because it’s going to be a position that’s going to have to tell him what to do. It’s going to have to explain things using kid gloves to the president of the United States, and that’s not something that this man, Donald Trump, is mentally prepared to handle.
Meanwhile, science in the United States continues to suffer. We have a flown blown right wing assault on science in the United States. Everything from climate change, to evolution, to American history, I know that’s not science, but for the love of God they’re rewriting history in textbooks in Texas. And it’s because the Republicans openly fear and hate intellectuals, or at least anybody that might be smarter than them.
