We have elected Republicans again, so many of our new leaders are anti-science. Here are some of the most ridiculous anti-science stories and conspiracy theories from 2016:
1. Hurricane Matthew “Truthers”
Back in October, Hurricane Matthew was headed for Florida. Many right-wingers thought that the Obama administration was exaggerating thre weather reports to scare people about climate change. Then, it devolved and Matt Drudge said that the government was lying about the hurricane to spread climate change rhetoric. Drudge said:
“The deplorables are starting to wonder if govt has been lying to them about Hurricane Matthew intensity to make an exaggerated point on climate. Hurricane center has a monopoly on data. No way of verifying claims.”
Hurricane Matthew ended up killing 40 people and causing over $1 billion worth of damage.
2. Christians Against Dinosaurs
There is an entire group of Christians out there who deny the fact that dinosaurs existed. This is beyond young-Earthers and Creationism. They are “fighting big Paleo” and showing everyone how ridiculously wrong they are.
3. Zika Virus Conspiracies
There are a few conspiracy theories with this one. The Zika virus causes birth defects in pregnant women. Some people believe that those birth defects are caused by vaccines instead of the virus. Some even said the virus was spread by genetically modified mosquitoes.
4. Anti-Vaxxers
Our President-elect has expressed skepticism over getting children vaccinated. Trump met with anti-vaccine activists during his campaign. Science magazine reported:
“Trump chatted with a group of donors that included four antivaccine activists for 45 minutes, according to accounts of the meeting, and promised to watch Vaxxed, an antivaccine documentary produced by Wakefield…Trump also expressed an interest in holding future meetings with the activists, according to participants.”
Having a president who doesn’t believe in getting children vaccinated could lead to more outbreaks of measles and other diseases.
5. Concussions
Donald Trump actually mocked football players for complaining about brain damage from concussions. Trump, who once owned a football team, said:
“See, we don’t go by these new, and very much softer, NFL rules. Concussions—’Uh oh, got a little ding on the head? No, no, you can’t play for the rest of the season’—our people are tough.”
As the Washington Post pointed out:
“Recent MRI scans of 40 NFL players found that 30 percent had signs of nerve cell damage. Florida State University College of Medicine’s Francis X. Conidi, a physician and author of the study, said in a statement that the rates of brain trauma were ‘significantly higher in the players’ than in the general population. In the spring, the NFL acknowledged a link between football and degenerative brain diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is associated with symptoms such as depression and memory loss.”
6. Climate Change Denial
This is the big one! Republicans love to deny that climate change is happening. Our President-elect thinks climate change is a hoax. No worries, Ivanka is working on the issue! We’ll all be fine. Also, we will have a head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who doesn’t believe in climate change.
Here are some more of Trump’s anti-science statements:
Featured image via Twitter
