CNN's Brian Stelter didn't write this, but he did share it, so I think it's a safe bet that he agrees with the premise. And that premise is that hurricanes have tested the limits of Donald Trump's "war on experts."
It's become a joke to read "according to experts" or "experts say" in a news story anymore. But Zachary Basu seems to think that a second Trump term would empower populists to steamroll mainstream "experts."
Have Helene and Milton been devastating storms? Of course. Are they the first time a powerful hurricane has made landfall? Of course not. But according to the experts, climate change has made storms more dangerous.
Axios: "A second Donald Trump presidency would usher in a new type of class warfare — empowering populists to steamroll mainstream experts on climate change, economics and public health." https://t.co/ErV2zryvwg
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 12, 2024
Basu writes:
A second Donald Trump presidency would usher in a new type of class warfare — empowering populists to steamroll mainstream experts on issues such as climate change, economics and public health.
Why it matters: This year's devastating hurricane season has exposed the perils of Trump's war on climate experts, who have long warned that human-caused global warming is exacerbating extreme weather.
Through warming ocean and air temperatures, climate change makes hurricanes like Helene and Milton more destructive — and more likely to rapidly intensify all the way through landfall.
The catastrophic back-to-back storms tore through the Southeast just weeks after climate scientists reported Earth's hottest summer on record.
Zoom in: Trump, who is potentially 23 days from winning back the White House, has sought to weaponize the Biden administration's hurricane response while still downplaying the existence of climate change.
He's called climate change a "hoax" and a "scam," railed against President Biden's clean energy policies, and urged Big Oil executives to fund his campaign in exchange for him slashing fossil fuel regulations.
That all sounds good to me. The experts said that all the coastal cities would be underwater by now. I was in middle school when Scholastic magazine warned about the coming global cooling. The experts told us the Earth was going to get colder and plunge us into a mini-Ice Age.
I personally welcome this new class warfare pitting populists against "mainstream experts."
Even if the voter boner this post aroused is still ragin’ after more than 4 hours, I’m not going to consult my physician.
— 100 Proof 🥃 (@ChampionCapua) October 12, 2024
“Mainstream Experts” 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh no, the voice of the American people will be more powerful and important than the “experts” who have been wrong about the economy, climate and public health. Say it ain’t so. 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/aJCf5Of98O
— Savannah (@BasedSavannah) October 12, 2024
The experts told us that inflation would be transitory and that the COVID-19 vaccine would prevent you from contracting the coronavirus, as would standing six feet apart.
When did Stelter start writing Trump ads?
— TallTeeth (@WildBillPecos) October 12, 2024
I'm already voting for Trump, you don't have to keep trying to convince me.
— drefanzor memes (@drefanzor) October 12, 2024
Populists challenging the so-called 'experts'? Sounds like democracy to me. Time to unshackle from the chains of fearmongering and elitism. ️ Let's get some real voices at the table!
— Stop Socialist Tyranny (@endlibtyranny) October 12, 2024
I was already voting for him Brian. You don't need to convince me more.
— Rudolph Troha 🇺🇲🏳️🌈 (@RudolphTroha) October 12, 2024
The term "expert" has become synonyms with propaganda. The media did this when they propped up all these so-called experts on covid, and they literally got everything wrong, while they simultaneously maligned anyone who disagreed.
— Caballero (@HughAkston0) October 12, 2024
The “experts” are mere propagandists for the regime.
— Peter D’Abrosca (@pdabrosca) October 12, 2024
"Mainstream experts" have been wrong too often, and instead of admitting their mistakes, have tried to steamroll the public by using censorship tactics.
— Nancy Pearcey (@NancyRPearcey) October 12, 2024
They even set up a Disinformation Governance Board headed up by a woman who said the Hunter Biden laptop story was a "fairy tale" and that Trump had colluded with the Russians. She was the "Mary Poppins of Disinformation." In other words, the expert.
JFC. This guy.
— StopBSWokeCulture 🇺🇸 (@MkayUokay) October 12, 2024
Stupidly posts a quote from @axios where @axios clutches its pearls at the thought of voters having a say over how money is spent on bogus hoaxes, the economy, and health related issues instead of unelected propagandists. Calls it a new type of “class” issue.
This begs the question - do you consider yourself a mainstream expert? If so, expect to continue to be steamrolled. You people no longer control what the public sees or hears. Citizen journalists do the job you and your comrades stopped doing decades ago. Good riddance!
— DJTAlways (Cat J) (@DjtAlways) October 12, 2024
I have no idea why CNN brought Stelter back into the fold. Did they think his time away made him a more reliable source?
If you don't think ordinary people should have any power to challenge 'experts', you don't believe in democracy, at all.
— Geoffrey Miller (@primalpoly) October 12, 2024
Your believe in oligarchy based on credentials.
So stop complaining about 'threats to democracy'.
You are the threat, @brianstelter
Climate change is a religion to some people. Even though every model has been wrong, they still believe
— Brandon S (@BSaarX) October 12, 2024
🤣
— MAZE (@mazemoore) October 12, 2024
— Axiomatic Enemy of the State (@DeTocqueville14) October 12, 2024
The "experts" who have been consistently and egregiously wrong for decades?
— CarolinaConservative3 (@1776Carolina3) October 12, 2024
Those "experts??"
God, you are a whiny little hack who shills shamelessly and blindly for the left. How are you not embarrassed to be you, you milquetoast little twatwaffle?
Yeah, that’s kinda what we’re going for Brian.
— Debbie M (@oldyfan2012) October 12, 2024
I hope the first thing Trump does in office is restart the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. And then does away with the whole "Inflation Reduction Act," which was just the Green New Deal under a popular name.
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