Will public trust in the CDC rebound after 2028? Not even close.
If you think the split in public trust in the CDC is partisan today, it's a stat that's going to say "Hold my beer" in 2029.
I think I can speak for many of my fellow science communicators, who see that our cause is essentially a lost one for the next three years. I am in the role which, previous to the current administration, was occupied by Flat Earth advocates, 9/11 inside jobbers, and those who believe (in dead seriousness) that Margaret Thatcher was a Reptoid alien wearing an electronic disguise. The advocacy promoted by science communicators used to be in lockstep with the guidance of federal science agencies like the CDC; but now, we’re the weirdos whose bizarre claims no longer have authoritative backing. Climate change being a Chinese hoax and vaccines causing more harm than good are the official positions; scicomm pros are now the marginalized iconoclasts.
But luckily, we all tend to believe, in 2029 it will be a different story. The current far-right populist administration will be out, and any other administration will be in. Republican or Democrat, we don’t care, bring it on; at least it will be an administration that operates within normal human boundaries of sanity. Populist incompetents will be kicked out of leadership roles, the old guard of competent professionals will fill back in, and we’ll have functional federal agencies again. It won’t be overnight, and it’s going to take a lot more than just a few years to repair all that’s been obliterated in just the past year alone; but it will happen. And (hope optimists like myself) it may even be rebuilt better than it was before.
The question we face today, however, is more specific. Will our trust in the CDC rebound after the Trump era, when knowledgeable experts are once again in charge?
Here’s the problem: That’s a bullshit question. It doesn’t represent reality now, and it mischaracterizes what’s expected to happen after the government is released from the grip of the populists.
