‘Trust The Science™’ Usually Means ‘Trust Our Authority’

I absolutely, positively agree that the collapse of public trust in our elites in general, and our public health elites in particular, is tragic and will prove to be one of the factors that bring down our civilization. 

Unfortunately, unlike many of the people who are wringing their hands over that collapse, I understand exactly WHY trust in our elites has collapsed, and attribute it to the behavior of those elites. 

Nobody trusts them anymore because they are not in the least trustworthy, at least as a class. There are plenty of scientists, doctors, policy analysts, and journalists who do their best to get things right and tell the truth, but the ethos that has dominated our elite institutions runs contrary to the values that they hold dear. 

First things first: elites really are essential, as our Founding Fathers understood. The whole rationale for creating the Senate was to put a check on the more populist impulses that can drive policy. It’s hard to imagine that the Cold War consensus or the creation of the Marshall Plan could have happened without elites formulating and selling the policies, and there are countless examples of pendulums swinging too far in one direction or another because of popular passions and fads. 

Not to mention that, in some cases, the “right” thing is the counterintuitive thing. 

Public trust in elites is very different from creating a technocracy, which is the current fad among our elites. Their goal is to substitute their preferences for those of the public, rather than to make a case grounded in reason and their record of making good decisions. Asking people for their attention and consideration is vastly different than demanding their obedience, yet the latter is much easier and more satisfying to people who believe that their authority should trump the will of the people. 

Technocrats may (or may not) genuinely believe that their recommendations are good for people, but if they demand power to force people to comply rather than use earned authority to persuade them, they have already lost their way. 

Worse, as we have seen during the COVID pandemic and with the push for Net Zero, elites are liars, either out of bad motives or out of a mistaken belief that people are incapable of making rational decisions. 

Biden officials knew about, downplayed risks from COVID-19 vaccines, Senate report claims https://t.co/Gx5MWh02sT pic.twitter.com/UvBmPaQjnY

— New York Post (@nypost) May 21, 2025

During the COVID pandemic, the CDC was obsessed with simplifying the messaging and often made decisions they knew were wrong to maintain consistent messaging. The problem got so bad that the top vaccine scientists at the FDA resigned in disgust, because recommendations and claims about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine and the need for everybody to get it were based on falsehoods. 

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky: “Our data from the CDC today suggest that vaccinated people do not carry the virus.” pic.twitter.com/9W1SHecSEm

— The Recount (@therecount) March 30, 2021

Rochelle Walensky famously lied on national TV about the effectiveness of the vaccine many times, but now she is complaining that RFK, Jr. is undermining faith in vaccines and public health officials. When she said that there was evidence that the COVID vaccine prevented transmission, that was a lie, not a mistake or misreading of the data. I know that because they never even collected data on the issue when she said it. 

Former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky called the vaccine advisory panel’s vote last week to remove the recommendation for the birth dose of hepatitis B the “intentional chiseling away at vaccine confidence,” in an interview with CBS News’ @DrLaPook.

“It also very much pains me… pic.twitter.com/bfeF9YA47d

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 11, 2025

Former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky called the vaccine advisory panel’s vote last week to remove the recommendation for the birth dose of hepatitis B the “intentional chiseling away at vaccine confidence,” in an interview with CBS News’ @DrLaPook

“It also very much pains me to say that this gold standard agency that I once had the privilege of leading is no longer taking the lead on a science-based approach to how we vaccinate the American public and our children,” Walensky said.

Notice how Walensky’s complaint is “confidence.” Confidence was exactly the major, almost sole concern of the people who made recommendations during the pandemic, not telling the truth. Because they were subsequently proven to be liars, confidence dropped. It’s not the people who point out that they lied who are undermining confidence; it’s the liars. 

One of the problems with interfering with medical debate and speech on online platforms is the appetite for truth grows.

Altmetric 1300+ based on tweets alone in 7 hrs 👇

Massive https://t.co/ltZ4TgJqMh pic.twitter.com/7pm4hWNgfi

— Vinay Prasad MD MPH (@VPrasadMDMPH) December 6, 2022

Remember “kids are resilient?” I do. Now look at the educational deficits our elites pushed on kids. Prior to COVID, the American Academy of Pediatrics warned that kids needed to be in school even during pandemics and that masks would inhibit language skills; they changed their recommendations and reversed course when the elite consensus was formed. 

The number of lies we have been told is astonishing. A personal example: when COVID hit, my doctor recommended getting the vaccine ASAP. By the time the second booster came out, they shrugged when I asked whether to get it. Because they no longer trusted the authorities. 

“Doctors, nurses and other frontline NHS staff are shunning the flu vaccine… in ever greater numbers, with almost nine in ten staff… unvaccinated last winter.”

“I wonder what changed in the last five years to make people suspicious of vaccines?” pic.twitter.com/cnD4rY5RPu

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) November 20, 2025

That’s not a fringe view, although doctors are generally afraid to say it out loud out of fear of professional repercussions. I know doctors who were punished and faced attempts to have their licenses revoked over questioning CDC policies. 

If elites want to be trusted, they first must be trustworthy. And earn that trust over time. Because they have been liars, they squandered that trust, and are using all their rhetorical fire against the people who have pointed out their failures. 

It’s OK to be wrong. It’s not OK to lie about it. People are more likely to trust somebody who admits a mistake than one who covers it up. 

We are still in the cover-up phase, and all these people deserve what ridicule they get, and more. 

• At HotAir, we’ve been dealing with real government suppression of free speech for YEARS. Despite the threats and consequences, we refuse to go silent and remain committed to delivering the truth.

  But we can’t do it without your support.

  Please help Ed, David, John, and me continue fighting back against government censorship by joining our terrific HotAir VIP community today. Use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.

  And thank you so much again for being here with us at HotAir.