Michael Mann’s “Fire Hose” of Misinformation: Projection at Its Finest
16 hours ago Anthony Watts
Dr. Michael Mann is at it again.
In his latest op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle — melodramatically titled “I’m a climate scientist. Trump’s U.N. address is a fire hose of misinformation”— Mann plays the role of truth-teller, warning the public about Donald Trump’s supposedly dangerous rhetoric at the United Nations. According to Mann, nearly “every single word [Trump] spoke drips with mendacity.”
But when you peel back the grandiose framing, Mann’s essay reads less like the sober analysis of a scientist and more like the polemic of an activist. Worse, much of what he accuses Trump of doing — cherry-picking, exaggerating, revising history, and fearmongering — is precisely what Mann himself has perfected over the last 25 years.
So, if Mann wants to talk about “fire hoses of misinformation,” then let’s have that conversation. But let’s do it honestly.
Mann the Politician, Not the Scientist
Early in the piece, Mann frames Trump’s speech as part of an “anti-science agenda”. This is a rhetorical sleight of hand he’s used for decades: conflate “science” with “Michael Mann’s opinions about climate policy.” Anyone who questions him is not engaging in debate, but waging war on science itself.
This is not how science works. Science is not a political loyalty oath, nor is it a courtroom drama (though Mann has spent more time in the courts than most scientists). It is about predictions, testing, and falsification. And this is where Mann’s own record collapses under scrutiny.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/09/29/michael-manns-fire-hose-of-misinformation-projection-at-its-finest/
