Trump & his political appointees worked to discredit the National Weather Service, during a hurricane;
the Federal Reserve, during a recession;
USDA's Economic Research Service, during a farming crisis;
so, sure, why not also the CDC during a pandemic?
nytimes.com/2020/09/18/us/…
On the one hand, in the past, when Trump needlessly frittered away statistical/scientific agencies' hard-won reputations, I used to wonder: Won't he regret this eventually? At some point *something* bad will happen and he'll need the public to believe what these experts say
As @Austan_Goolsbee has put it (adapting some wisdom from the late Paul Volcker): Normal times are when you establish the credibility by being honest even if it makes you look bad in the short run, because you will need it when SHTF.
So I assumed the problem was just that Trump wasn't forward-looking. washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-…
But on the other hand: Even when crisis actually hits, Trump still doesn't appreciate the need for scientific/statistical/independent agencies to be (and appear) honest and authoritative, attacks their credibility nonstop, etc. See: CDC, FDA, Fed, Census, NWS, etc.
For a guy who loves to talk about "reputation" he doesn't seem to understand it all.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.