The prestigious science magazine known as Scientific American has never endorsed a presidential candidate in its entire 175-year history, but now, they have done just that. Citing Donald Trump’s reckless handling of the Coronavirus pandemic and other issues, the magazine has endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. In an editorial included in the print edition of the magazine and posted online, the publication’s editors call on readers to vote for Biden in light of the seriousness with which he takes science and public health issues that are truly serious to begin with. It’s worth emphasizing — if president, Biden likely would not have spent months downplaying the severity of the Coronavirus, putting Americans’ lives at risk.
In their editorial, Scientific American shares the following:
‘The evidence and the science show that 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, which cost more than 190,000 Americans their lives by the middle of September… Trump’s rejection of evidence and public health measures have been catastrophic in the U.S.’
It took months for Trump to even publicly promote mask-wearing, and he’s already backed off from that. He has been holding campaign events where plenty of people have shown up and mingled with no masks on. It’s as if his “strategy” is simply to ignore the virus and hope it goes away. He seems like he’s more interested in trying to manage the public relations aspect of the crisis than he is in dealing with the actual public health emergency. There have been millions of infections in the United States, and death is far from the only potential negative health outcome of the disease.
Scientific American had examples of Trump’s ineptitude other than the Coronavirus. They also pointed out how Trump has “also attacked environmental protections, medical care, and the researchers and public science agencies that help this country prepare for its greatest challenges.” His administration has even been trying to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, with no replacement plan ready to go. In contrast to Trump’s dangerously reckless belligerence, Scientific American writes that Biden “is acutely aware that we must heed the abundant research showing ways to recover from our present crises and successfully cope with future challenges.”
