Peter Hotez

That's one of the signature aspects of the United States.

And if we take that down, what are we as a country?

So I think that's an important point.

And the fact that we've had 200,000 Americans just needlessly die of COVID.

because they were told vaccines were safe and ineffective and the bad actors had the bandwidth to do that, that's awful.

So this is a killing force and the climate crisis is a killer as we're seeing also and maybe even a greater killer.

So the stakes are high.

I think the other point is to avoid doomism and not just throw up your hands and say, well, there's nothing we can do.

There is.

It's hard, but I think the stakes are high and it's important.

That's where we also have agency as well, and not only at the polls and the voting booths, but there's—

Being a scientist, staying in the mix, continuing to do important work, writing papers, but also explaining to people what the anti-science movement is all about.

But we don't do that enough.

As I say, we too often ascribe it to random junk on the Internet.

without articulating that it is politically motivated and financially motivated.

And it's not easy to talk about because as scientists, we don't like to talk about that kind of stuff.

I don't like talking about politics and Republicans and Democrats and liberals or conservatives or the health and wellness movement.

I've got better things to do, but I do it because now—

this in itself is an existential threat.

And now I realize that, you know, I've always, I'm, you know, in one way, I'm feeling very fulfilled in life.