User:BCCHAP/I'm not a scientist

"I'm not a scientist" is a phrase that has been often used by American politicians, primarily Republicans ,      when asked about a scientific subject, such as global warming, or the age of the earth. Politicians who have used the phrase include John Boehner, Rick Scott, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Mitch McConnell, and Amy Coney Barrett. It has been criticized by Coral Davenport writing for The New York Times, and by Steven Benen of the Rachel Maddow Show, and was satirized by Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report.

The mainstream concept of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in America is often synonymous with the Science vs Antiscience debate. The stances of these two parties manifests itself within their proposed policies and legislation and the increasingly polarized nature of the United States emphasizes this prominent divide. Despite the overall upward trend in scientific confidence from 2016 to 2020 by the American public, the partisan divide continues to widen each year. With ever increasing polarized depictions of politics in media, values in science can be distinguished through party lines. Both Democrats and Republicans utilize the phrase, however they are in different contexts.

President Barack Obama singled the phrase out in his 2015 State of the Union speech, saying:"I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence [of global climate change] by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act. Well, I’m not a scientist, either. But you know what, I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and at NOAA, and at our major universities.  And the best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we don’t act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration and conflict and hunger around the globe." Charlie Cristi campaigning against Rick Scott, who has utilized the phrase in response to a question on Climate Change in 2014 said: "“I’m not a scientist either, but I can use my brain and I can talk to one.”" Hillary Clinton in her 2016 presidential campaign criticizing the phrase said: “Ask many of these candidates about climate change, one of the defining threats of our time, and they’ll say, ‘I’m… not a scientist.’”

“Well then why don’t they start listening to those who are?” While the phrase is primarily associated with Republicans, the GOP leans towards pro-party agenda, taking on antiscience sentiments to push forward legislation and policies in favor of conservative ideologies. Democrats too hold antiscience sentiments in regards to topics such as GMOs, nuclear power, yet a key difference between the two parties is that Democrats will rebuke and rebut their own allies in the face of the political mainstream, where as Republicans are more inclined to abide by leadership and cohort mentality.

Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist and conservative activist, has argued that the phrase "won't be a winner in the presidential field" for Republican candidates.

Commenting on the phenomenon, Journalist Dan Rather deplored the antiscience attitude it evinces, but stated that the anti-science attitude was evident not just among Republicans, but throughout American society. He blamed the media for their poor coverage of science, and for presenting a false equivalency between scientific consensus and climate change denial.