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.
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.
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The kind of polling we need more of: @YouGov asked respondents about major policies proposed by Biden and Trump...without specifying which candidate proposed them.
Turns out, in a blind test, Biden's agenda is way more popular. A short 🧵 today.yougov.com/politics/artic…
27 of 28 Biden proposals are supported by more people than oppose them. 24 get outright majority support.
Most popular: criminal/mental health background checks for all gun purchases (82% approve). Least popular (the only one underwater, 30%): 10-yr military support for Ukraine
Trump's agenda doesn't fare so well.
9 of 28 proposals are above water (more support than oppose). Just 6 get majority support
Even most most popular (phase out Chinese imports of essential goods) gets meager 59%. Least pop (prez controls independent regulatory agencies): 19%
Pay more attention to what politicians *do* than to what they say
There's been credulous media coverage of Trump's "proposal" to give green cards to immigrant US college grads. It's odds with everything Trump actually did as president, to reduce *legal, skilled* immigration
examples of actual policies he put in place, curbing visas, work permits, or green cards for skilled immigrants: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Yes. Problem is most Americans don't understand how difficult it actually is to come here legally.
<1% of people who want to move permanently to the US can do so legally
Confusion is understandable. Our system is convoluted; demagogues take advantage🧵1/x cato.org/policy-analysi…
Biden has proposed, and in some cases already opened, new legal, orderly pathways to come here—designed to take pressure off the border, among other objectives ("law & order")
Most Americans, including most **Republican voters,** support such efforts 2/x washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/…
However, the GOP is trying to block those new legal pathways & kill ones we already have.
E.g. Trump would dismantle longstanding program for seasonal agricultural workers to come to US on visas. What's that likely to do to illegal border crossings? 3/x washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/…
Rep Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chair of House intel committee, tells @jaketapper on @cnnsotu that some of his colleagues have fallen for Russian propaganda and repeated it on the House floor
This follows similar comments from House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Tex) to @juliaioffe, which Turner was asked about.