By Brian Niemietz
New York Daily News
Scientific American magazine — which counts Albert Einstein as a past contributors — is endorsing a presidential candidate for the first time since it went into print in 1845. That pick is not the candidate who fancies himself “a very stable genius.”
“Scientific American has never endorsed a presidential candidate in its 175-year history,” the storied publication begins its endorsement of Democratic candidate Joe Biden. “This year we are compelled to do so. We do not do this lightly.”
The historic magazine, which first hit newsstands when Democrat James K. Polk was in the White House, accuses President Donald Trump of rejecting “evidence and science” in a scathing condemnation of the president that states Biden will be better for the environment, the economy and the nation’s health.
“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,” the endorsement states.
Scientific American’s endorsement of Biden acknowledges the pandemic would impact any nation regardless its leader, but argues Trump’s alleged inaction early on and downplaying of the pandemic in its infant stages —the latter of which the president admits —has made the situation “catastrophic.”
The magazine also blasts Trump’s inconsistent advocacy of masks, which slow the spread of the virus, as an example of his continued mishandling of the national health crisis.
Trump’s unwillingness to take responsibility for the United States’ unparalleled struggles with the pandemic, which the president has blamed on other countries as well as the previous U.S. president, is also spotlighted in Scientific American’s endorsement of Biden.
According to that editorial, Trump’s efforts to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, as well as his proposal to cut funding for the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, further indicate he is not fit for office.
“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 policymaking,” the magazine countered. “He solicits expertise and has turned that knowledge into solid policy proposals.”
Scientific Journal accuses the president and his allies of trying to create obstacles to suppress voting, but concludes that “it is crucial that we surmount them and vote.”
There’s no questioning Trump’s ability to inspire publications that haven’t been historically political. The 94-year-old National Enquirer made its first endorsement of a presidential candidate in 2016 when it backed the bombastic Republican candidate.
“Trump Must Be President,” wrote the tabloid, which later confessed it helped the president bury stories that could have hurt his candidacy. Among the Enquirer’s reasons for its support, according to The Washington Post, was that “Only Trump has the guts to stand up to foreign leaders like Vladimir Putin —and gain their respect!”
The president has suggested the Enquirer was cheated out of a Pulitzer Prize and urged Time magazine to hire its disgraced publisher, David Pecker, as its CEO.
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