Science mag touts Harris bringing science experience to White House because of her mom’s career, gets trashed

The outlet Scientific American became the subject of mockery on social media for publishing a piece saying that Vice President Kamala Harris will bring a scientific perspective to the presidency if she wins because her mom was a cancer researcher.

The piece went viral on X with conservatives and other critics of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee ridiculing the claim.

The headline of the article read: "What a Kamala Harris Presidency Would Mean for Science." The subhead added: "As the daughter of a cancer researcher, Kamala Harris would bring a lifelong familiarity with science to the presidency, experts say." 

"This is awesome news. My Dad was in the Air Force, so I guess I’m a veteran now," conservative commentator Charles Cooke posted on Friday.

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"Scientific American" was recently mocked online for saying that Vice President Harris would bring science experience to the presidency because her mom was a doctor.

The outlet published the piece earlier in the week, arguing that Harris will bring some experience with science to the White House because "her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who Harris cites as a major influence, was a leading breast-cancer researcher who died of cancer."

As evidence that Harris is already highly invested in the sciences, Scientific American detailed how the politician promoted diversity initiatives in the scientific fields throughout her career. 

"As senator, Harris co-sponsored efforts to improve the diversity of the science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM) workforce. She introduced legislation to aid students from underrepresented populations to obtain jobs and work experience in STEM fields."

The piece, by Max Kozlov, Mariana Lenharo, Jeff Tollefson & nature magazine, added, "As vice-president, Harris has overseen the National Space Council, which is charged with advising the president on US space policy and strategy. Under Harris’s leadership, the body has focused on international cooperation, for example on the Artemis mission, which aims to send astronauts to the Moon."

One of the most well-known contributions of Harris to the field of astronomy and space exploration was a widely-mocked video of her talking to children about the cosmos in 2021.

In the viral video, which was meant to encourage kids’ enthusiasm for space, Harris gushed to child actors about the topic, saying things like, "You’re gonna literally see the craters on the moon with your own eyes!" and "I just love the idea of exploring the unknown."

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US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

At the time, critics blasted her for coming off as "fake" and "cringe." Donald Trump Jr. commented on the clip, posting, "Her commitment to cringe is truly impressive."

Scientific American’s piece on Harris’ science background inspired similar mockery on X this week. 

Gov. Ron DeSatnis, R-Fla., comms person Christina Pushaw mocked the piece, writing, "’your parents' education and careers are passed along to you in the bloodstream’ - The Science."

Indie journalist Christina Buttons lamented, "I’m embarrassed that I ever used to subscribe to this magazine."

Author Jennifer Sey slammed the outlet, posting, "I’m the daughter of a pediatrician. No one seemed to care about that when I argued that children were being harmed by Covid restrictions. Nor should they have. My dad’s expertise had nothing to do with my own common sense views on what would happen to kids from severe isolation."

GOP comms person Matt Whitlock countered the outlet’s piece with Harris’ "cringe" space video, stating, "We already saw Kamala Harris’s ‘lifelong familiarity with science’ on full display when they hired child actors to talk to her about space."

Conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg asked, "Hey @sciam, what do you make of Trump’s claims that he understands science because his uncle was a physicist at MIT?"

Ophthalmologist & PhD research scientist Dr. David Hemmati commented, "A perplexing puff piece by Scientific American claiming that because her mom researched cancer, Kamala Harris would ‘bring a lifelong familiarity with science to the presidency.’ This high produced NASA video with paid child actors (& many others) would say otherwise."

He added, "This magazine loses a lot of credibility for making this claim. Let’s stick to facts, not politics."

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