Lecture 12: The War on Science, Data, and Expertise — How the GOP Undermines Truth to Win Power

Danny Mays

 

Part 1: Introduction — When Truth Becomes the Enemy

In a healthy democracy, truth matters. Science guides public policy. Experts help us understand complex issues. Data drives decisions that affect health, education, economics, and the environment.

But in recent decades, the Republican Party has launched a war against facts themselves.

From climate change denial and pandemic misinformation to attacks on universities and scientific institutions, the GOP has actively eroded public trust in expertise. This isn’t accidental. It’s strategic. If truth is negotiable, then power goes to the best storyteller, not the best-informed decision-maker.

In this lecture, we’ll explore how the Republican war on science and expertise serves a broader authoritarian agenda. We will unpack:

  • Why undermining expertise consolidates control.

  • How the GOP frames knowledge as elitism.

  • The role of think tanks, conservative media, and disinformation campaigns.

  • The consequences for democracy, public health, and the planet.

By the end, you'll have the tools to recognize anti-intellectual tactics and defend truth as a public good.

I. Why Facts Are Dangerous to Authoritarianism

Truth is a constraint on power. That’s why authoritarians seek to distort, discredit, or destroy it.

Public trust in science, journalism, and institutions creates limits. If people believe in evidence, they will reject policies based on lies, fear, or ideology.

GOP Strategy:

  • Create doubt around factual consensus.

  • Frame experts as biased, corrupt, or elitist.

  • Replace truth with emotionally charged narratives.

This isn't about debate. It's about destabilizing the very idea of objective reality.

"You're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts." — Daniel Patrick Moynihan

The GOP has reversed this logic. In their playbook, controlling the narrative is more valuable than aligning with facts.

II. Case Study: Climate Change Denial

Few examples are more emblematic than the GOP's decades-long denial of climate science.

Timeline:

  • 1980s: Exxon and others internally acknowledge climate risks.

  • 1990s–2000s: GOP politicians amplify fossil fuel-funded think tanks denying climate science.

  • 2010s: Republican candidates declare climate change a "hoax."

  • 2020s: Climate denial shifts to climate delay: "It's too expensive to fix."

Tactics:

  • Cherry-picking data

  • Citing fringe scientists

  • Equating uncertainty with inaction

  • Attacking the IPCC, NASA, NOAA as political actors

Result:

  • Public confusion

  • Delayed action

  • Environmental collapse accelerates

The cost of denial isn’t just ideological. It’s existential.

III. COVID-19 and the Politicization of Public Health

The pandemic exposed the deadly consequences of anti-science governance.

GOP Messaging:

  • Mask mandates = tyranny

  • Vaccines = government control

  • Dr. Fauci = enemy of freedom

Consequences:

  • Misinformation spreads faster than the virus

  • Public health officials receive death threats

  • Red states suffer disproportionately high death rates

Republican leaders downplayed the threat, mocked precautions, and turned science into a partisan issue. Lives were lost not just to disease, but to disinformation.

Part 2: The Attack on Academia — Turning Campuses into Battlegrounds

In the Republican Playbook, higher education is not a public good — it’s a threat. Why? Because universities produce experts. They teach critical thinking. They challenge inherited narratives and test ideas against evidence. In short, they cultivate independent thought — the kryptonite of authoritarian politics.

A. Framing Universities as “Liberal Indoctrination Centers”

One of the GOP’s most persistent talking points is that colleges are overrun by “woke” ideologies and liberal professors. The strategy? Discredit the institution to discredit the knowledge it produces.

  • Talking points used:

    • “Colleges are brainwashing our youth.”

    • “Professors are Marxists.”

    • “We need more conservative voices in academia.”

This isn't just rhetoric — it's preparation for policy action.

B. Policy Assaults on Academic Independence

In Republican-led states, we've seen a growing wave of legislative and budgetary attacks on academic institutions:

  • Banning courses in critical race theory, gender studies, or even discussions on systemic racism.

  • Passing laws that allow political appointees to control university governance boards.

  • Defunding public universities under the guise of “fiscal responsibility.”

  • Restricting tenure protections, effectively punishing dissent or controversy.

This is about shaping what is taught — and silencing what challenges conservative orthodoxy.

When you can control the curriculum, you can control the future narrative.

C. Targeting Student Protest and Free Speech

Ironically, while claiming to be defenders of “free speech,” many GOP-led initiatives directly target student protest movements and campus dissent:

  • Anti-protest laws

  • Speech codes aimed at leftist activism

  • Surveillance or intimidation of progressive student groups

By criminalizing disagreement and painting dissent as dangerous, Republicans attempt to make universities safer for conservative power — not for open inquiry.

Part 2 Summary: Knowledge as a Political Battlefield

The Republican war on science isn’t limited to labs and research. It extends into lecture halls, libraries, and the college quad. Education, when functioning properly, empowers people to ask questions — and that’s precisely what authoritarian movements fear.

By reframing higher education as a cultural enemy and gutting its independence, the GOP undermines one of the most powerful tools for truth in a free society.

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