Fake Science Nation: How the Right Is Replacing Expertise With Propaganda

From climate denial to RFK Jr.’s AI-riddled vaccine report, conservatives aren’t just ignoring science. They’re faking it.

In the past few months, two government-backed documents made waves, one released by the Department of Energy (DOE) in July, the other by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in May. Each was branded as a scientific report. Each was riddled with distortions, errors, or outright fabrications. And each served a political purpose: justifying policy that weakens public protections.

This isn’t neglect. It is design.

Conservative leadership is executing a two-pronged strategy: silence real science and manufacture fake science that fits the agenda.

Much like Big Tobacco in the 1990s, today’s right-wing leaders know they can’t beat the facts, so they’re forging their own.

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Silencing the Real Scientists

On August 1, President Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, just hours after July’s disappointing jobs report. The White House claimed the data was “rigged,” offering no evidence. Economists warned this was a serious breach of statistical independence and a chilling signal to other federal researchers.

Katharine Abraham, a former BLS commissioner, called it out for what it is, saying, “Once you start punishing people for delivering facts you don’t like, the integrity of every federal statistic is at risk.”

But this wasn’t the first strike. This is a pattern.

In June, the Department of Energy dismissed Erica Groshen, its chief statistical consultant and a former BLS commissioner, before she could review the DOE’s own climate report. Groshen later confirmed she had been excluded from the review process. The result? A rushed document that bypassed standard scrutiny in favor of political messaging.

Across agencies, the trend continues. Over $4.4 billion in NIH research grants have been canceled. NASA’s Earth-monitoring programs face cuts. NOAA’s climate divisions are being thinned out. The EPA is reviving its “secret science” rule, which bans use of studies that don’t publicly disclose all raw data, effectively excluding most peer-reviewed epidemiology.

In the Bush era, climate scientists were censored. Now, they’re simply erased.

See our most recent reporting on the gutting of climate science here:

MTG’s Weather Bill: Conspiracies in a Time of Catastrophe

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Replacing Truth With Pseudo-Science

In late July, the DOE released A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate. Authored in just four months by five contrarian researchers, the report was presented as a sweeping reassessment of climate science.

However, the science community quickly responded with alarm.

One glaring example: the report claims there's “no long-term statistically significant trend” in U.S. heatwaves, a statement directly contradicted by NOAA and IPCC data, which show clear increases in both frequency and severity of heatwaves since the 1960s. Climate scientists accused the DOE of cherry-picking early baselines to mask escalation. Some even found their work misquoted or cited without context.

Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist with Berkeley Earth & Climate Analytics, said, “This report fundamentally misrepresents the state of climate science… It cherry-picks outdated data and ignores the overwhelming evidence of intensifying heat, floods, and droughts.”

University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann agreed, adding, “This is not an honest scientific assessment. It's a political document dressed up to look like science—designed to sow confusion and delay action.”

The Pattern Isn’t New

This type of misleading science pitched as proof to support fringe theories is not new. Back in May, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released the “Make America Healthy Again” report, another “data-driven” document that questioned vaccine mandates and federal health guidance. Within a week, journalists and researchers discovered the report included dozens of fake citations, broken links, and even markers like “oaicite:XYZ”, a telltale sign of AI-generated content.

Katherine Wu, a health policy journalist, stated, “The MAHA report looks like a study, but it behaves like a conspiracy theory. It's filled with unverifiable claims and AI artifacts—an insult to actual public health work.”

Georgetown University virologist Angela Rasmussen went further, stating, “When you present fabricated citations as science, you’re not just misleading people—you’re endangering them.”

Even after public backlash, updated versions of the MAHA report retained unverifiable or fabricated sources. RFK Jr.’s office claimed the issues were “editorial,” but public health experts say it reflects a growing willingness to push machine-generated misinformation under the guise of scientific review.

This is far from an editorial mistake. This is disinformation dressed in a lab coat, propaganda built to impersonate evidence.

See our commentary on this story from May 30th, here:

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Phantom Science: RFK Jr.’s Health Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist

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The Playbook Is Clear

This isn’t just a war on science. It’s a systematic replacement of facts with fakes:

• Real scientists fired or marginalized

• Critical funding pulled from independent research

• Politicized agencies releasing pseudo-reports

• Scientific formatting used to mislead, not inform

If accepted as truth, these documents will be used to gut climate regulations, loosen vaccine standards, and justify stripping away public health protections. We're not just watching a war on science. We're witnessing the rewriting of the rules that safeguard air, water, health, and democratic accountability.

In authoritarian regimes, control over facts is the first conquest. America is learning that one fake report at a time.

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Truth Needs Defenders

They’re counting on confusion, fatigue, and your instinct to scroll past the footnotes.

Don’t let them replace reality with lies.

Fact-check loudly. Share science visibly. Support journalists, scientists, and educators who won’t back down.

If you’ve seen disinformation disguised as science, send it our way. Let’s build a library of truth that outlasts the fakes.

Bibliography:

• “Trump fires Biden-appointed Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner after bad jobs report: ‘Numbers were RIGGED.’” AP News, August 1, 2025.

• “Trump firing of labor statistics chief ‘undermines credibility …’” The Guardian, August 4, 2025.

• “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate.” Department of Energy, July 23, 2025.

• “Contrarian climate assessment from U.S. government draws swift pushback.” Science Magazine, July 30,  2025.

• “Misleading U.S. Department of Energy climate report chooses bias over science, climate scientists say.” Science Feedback, August 5, 2025.

• “Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report.” AP News, August 1, 2025.

• “Trump firing of labor statistics chief ‘undermines credibility’, ex-leaders say.” The Guardian, August 4, 2025.

• ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Report Cites Nonexistent …” Undark, May 29, 2025.

• “RFK Jr.’s 'Make America Healthy Again' report seems riddled with AI slop.” The Verge, May 30,  2025.

• “Science Adviser: Fake citations plague MAHA report.” Science Magazine, June 2, 2025.

• “In rejecting the jobs report, Trump follows his own playbook of discrediting unfavorable data.” AP News, August 5, 2025.

• “White House defends firing of labor official as critics warn trust erosion.” Reuters, August 4, 2025.