Popular science magazine Scientific American has endorsed Joe Biden for president, the first political endorsement ever granted by the publication.
“The 2020 election is literally a matter of life and death,” the magazine’s editors said Tuesday. “We urge you to vote for health, science and Joe Biden for President.”
Recommended Stories
In their endorsement, which appears in the magazine’s October 2020 issue, the editors argued that President Trump “has badly damaged the U.S. and its people — because he rejects evidence and science.” They add that Trump neglected to develop a national strategy to distribute personal protective equipment to healthcare workers, construct a coronavirus testing and tracing system, or issue clear health guidelines to the public.
“That is why we urge you to vote for Joe Biden, who is offering fact-based plans to protect our health, our economy and the environment,” they said.
The magazine’s editors also wrote that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have openly flouted safety guidelines by not wearing masks in public. They also say that Trump and Pence misled the public to believe that “the worst days of the pandemic are behind us,” contrary to warnings from infectious disease experts that loosened safety rules would cause a rebound in cases.
“Trump’s reaction to America’s worst public health crisis in a century has been to say ‘I don’t take responsibility at all.’ Instead he blamed other countries and his White House predecessor, who left office three years before the pandemic began,” the editors continued.
Biden, meanwhile, has put forth policies to “beat the virus” without sacrificing economic recovery, such as establishing a national testing board tasked with distributing test supplies, as well as a Public Health Job Corps of 100,000 people, many of whom have been laid off during the pandemic, to serve as contact tracers.
“Joe Biden, in contrast, comes prepared with plans to control COVID-19, improve health care, reduce carbon emissions and restore the role of legitimate science in policy making. He solicits expertise and has turned that knowledge into solid policy proposals,” the editors wrote.
The magazine’s editors also highlighted the differences between candidates’ other healthcare policies not related to COVID-19. Trump’s proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would “increase the risk that new diseases will surprise and devastate us again.”
In the magazine’s 175-year history, it has never come out in favor of a presidential candidate.
