JD Vance leveled by analyst for his 'mind-numbing ignorance' about research

In an attempt to defend Donald Trump's war on academia –– particularly Ivy League colleges –– Vice President J.D. Vance stepped in it when he claimed that scientific innovation doesn't really require the participation of foreign students, and that American scientists would be happy to work under the current anti-science policies of the administration.

With Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio lending an assist by attempting to make it difficult for foreign students to continue their studies, or, alternatively be forced to change schools, Vance dismissed worries it could lead to a "brain drain."

In an interview with right-wing Newsmax this week, the former Ohio senator and "Hillbilly Elegy" author claimed, "If you go back to the ‘50s and ‘60s, the American space program, the program that was the first to put a human being on the surface of the moon, was built by American citizens — some German and Jewish scientists who had come over during World War II, but mostly by American citizens who had built an incredible space program with American talent."

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According to MSNBC analyst Ja'han Jones, Vance's dismissiveness was larded with, " ... jingoism and what appears to be thinly veiled racial bigotry."

Jones wrote, "Vance showed some mind-numbing ignorance," before pointing out the planet-sized hole in the VP's argument.

"There’s an illustrious history of immigrant scientists coming to the United States and making tremendous contributions to the American way of life. But aside from that, Trump’s crackdown on science is also causing American scientists and aspiring scientists — the ones Vance claims to care about — to reconsider their career path." he observed.

To bolster his point he cited a report from the Boston Globe that revealed, "Across New England and the country, thousands of budding scientists have awoken to a stark new reality, one they never could have imagined just six months ago. Funding for laboratories that focus on everything from the genetic causes of aging to cancer is drying up. Jobs in biomedicine are vanishing."

Jones then cited his previous reporting that, "... foreign science organizations are licking their chops at the chance to poach American scientists who may be looking to take their expertise elsewhere."

The analyst suggested that, given a choice between doing research at a U.S. university under the watchful eye of the current president's DOJ, State Department and Homeland Security Department as opposed to a foreign entity willing to throw money at U.S.-born scientists, Vance would have to be "utterly detached from reality" to believe they won't flee the U.S.

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