《科学》罕见批川普：他在科学上一再撒谎（中英文对照）

转自：《加拿大和美国必读》

ID ：jianadabidu

文 : 沈小花

【编者按】

昨日（9月11日），国际顶尖学术期刊《科学（Science）》杂志罕见地发表一篇直接批评总统的文章，标题为《Trump lied about science 》，作者为科学志主编霍尔登·索普（ H. Holden Thorp ），怒斥川普总统对科学撒谎。

当然，白宫照例否认了《科学》杂志的指责：“关于总统误导公众或隐瞒信息导致牺牲生命的观点是荒谬的”。（编辑：新约客）

以下为中英文对照版本：

Trump lied about science

川普在科学问题上撒了谎

When President Donald Trump began talking to the public about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in February and March, scientists were stunned at his seeming lack of understanding of the threat. We assumed that he either refused to listen to the White House briefings that must have been occurring or that he was being deliberately sheltered from information to create plausible deniability for federal inaction. Now, because famed Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward recorded him, we can hear Trump’s own voice saying that he understood precisely that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was deadly and spread through the air. As he was playing down the virus to the public, Trump was not confused or inadequately briefed: He flat-out lied, repeatedly, about science to the American people. These lies demoralized the scientific community and cost countless lives in the United States.

今年2月和3月，当唐纳德·川普总统开始对公众谈论新冠病毒时，科学家们对他似乎缺乏对这一威胁的了解感到震惊。我们以为，他要么拒绝听取白宫肯定一直在做的简报，要么是他被故意隐瞒信息，以便为联邦政府的不作为制造合理的理由。现在，因为著名的《华盛顿邮报》记者鲍勃·伍德沃德录下了川普的谈话，我们可以听到特朗普自己说，他非常清楚这种“严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2”（SARS-CoV-2，即新冠病毒）是致命的，并能通过空气传播。当川普在公众面前淡化病毒的严重性时，他自己并没有感到困惑，也不是没有得到充分的信息报告：他在科学问题上一再向美国人民彻头彻尾地撒谎。这些谎言使科学界士气低落，并使无数美国人丧生。

Over the years, this page has commented on the scientific foibles of U.S. presidents. Inadequate action on climate change and environmental degradation during both Republican and Democratic administrations have been criticized frequently. Editorials have bemoaned endorsements by presidents on teaching intelligent design, creationism, and other antiscience in public schools. These matters are still important. But now, a U.S. president has deliberately lied about science in a way that was imminently dangerous to human health and directly led to widespread deaths of Americans.

多年来，本页（注：指社论页）一直在评论美国历任总统在科学方面的弱点，经常批评共和党和民主党执政期间对气候变化和环境恶化采取的行动不足。我们的社论对那些总统支持的在公立学校教授智能设计论、神创论和其他反科学的做法表示遗憾。这些事情仍然很重要。但现在，一位美国总统故意在科学问题上撒了谎，这对人类健康造成了迫在眉睫的威胁，并直接导致了美国人的大量死亡。

注：智能设计论认为，自然界特别是生物界中存在一些现象无法在自然的范畴内予以解释，必须求助于超自然的因素，即必然是具有智慧的创造者创造并设计了这些实体和某些规则，才造成了这些现象。主流科学界将这一理论视为伪科学。

This may be the most shameful moment in the history of U.S. science policy.

这可能是美国科学政策史上最可耻的时刻。

In an interview with Woodward on 7 February 2020, Trump said he knew that COVID-19 was more lethal than the flu and that it spread through the air. “This is deadly stuff,” he said. But on 9 March, he tweeted that the “common flu” was worse than COVID-19, while economic advisor Larry Kudlow and presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway assured the public that the virus was contained. On 19 March, Trump told Woodward that he did not want to level with the American people about the danger of the virus. “I wanted to always play it down,” he said, “I still like playing it down.” Playing it down meant lying about the fact that he knew the country was in grave danger.

2020年2月7日，川普在接受伍德沃德采访时表示，他知道新冠病毒比流感更致命，而且它可以通过空气传播。他说：“这是能致命的东西”。但3月9日，他却在推特上说：“普通流感”比新冠病毒更严重，而经济顾问拉里·库德洛和总统顾问凯莉安妮·康韦也向公众保证，病毒已得到控制。3月19日，川普告诉伍德沃德，他不想向美国人民坦陈病毒的危险性。“我一直想淡化这件事，”他说，“我现在仍然希望淡化处理。”淡化病毒的严重性意味着他对自己知道国家面临严重危险这一事实撒了谎。

It also meant silencing health officials who tried to tell the truth. On 25 February, Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), said, “It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness.” She was right and Trump knew it. But he shut her down. He also tried to control messaging from Anthony Fauci, the nation’s foremost leader on infectious diseases. Trump’s supporters insisted that Fauci and Messonnier were not being muzzled, but now we have clear evidence in emails that they were.

淡化疫情也意味着让那些试图说出真相的卫生官员噤声。2月25日, （美国疾病控制和预防中心下属的）国家免疫和呼吸道疾病中心主任南希·梅森尼尔说：“这（指疫情）已经不是一个是否会发生的问题了，而是到底什么时候发生，这个国家会有多少人得上这种严重疾病的问题。”她是对的，川普也知道这一点。但他不让南希继续履行职责（注：川普对南希的发言非常生气，曾威胁要解雇她）。他还试图控制美国传染病方面最重要的专家安东尼·福奇发声。川普的支持者坚称，福奇和梅松尼尔没有被封口，但现在我们从电子邮件中得到了明确的证据，他们确实被封口了。

南希·梅森尼尔

Trump also knew that the virus could be deadly for young people. “It’s not just old, older,” he told Woodward on 19 March. “Young people, too, plenty of young people.” Yet, he has insisted that schools and universities reopen and that college football should resume. He recently added to his advisory team Scott Atlas—a neuroradiologist with no expertise in epidemiology—who has advocated for a risky and misguided course: somehow isolating the older and more vulnerable while allowing the virus free rein among young people. The opening of colleges and schools has accelerated the spread of the virus and will mean untold suffering among both students and the people to whom they are now spreading the virus.

川普还知道，这种病毒对年轻人来说可能是致命的。3月19日，他对伍德沃德说:“不仅是老年人，或者年纪更大的人容易被感染，还有年轻人，很多年轻人也被感染了”。然而，他坚持让中小学校和大学重新开放，大学橄榄球比赛应该恢复。川普最近把斯科特·阿特拉斯加入了他的顾问团队，他是一位神经放射学家，没有流行病学方面的专业知识。阿特拉斯主张采取一种危险的、误导性的做法抗疫，即以某种方式将老者和易感人群隔离，让病毒在年轻人中自由传播。大学和中小学校的开放加速了病毒的传播，对于学生和被他们传染的人来说都意味着难以言表的痛苦。

Monuments in Washington, D.C., have chiseled into them words spoken by real leaders during crises. “Confidence,” said Franklin Roosevelt, “thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance.”

华盛顿特区的纪念碑上镌刻着在危机中的关键领导者说过的话。富兰克林·罗斯福曾说过:“只有在诚实、荣誉、神圣的责任心、忠诚的保护以及无私履行职责的基础上，信心才能够茁壮成长。”

We can be thankful that science has embraced these words. Researchers are tirelessly developing vaccines and investigating the origins of the virus so that future pandemics may be prevented. Health care workers have braved exposure to treat COVID-19 patients and reduce the death rate; many of these frontline workers have become infected, and some have died in these acts of courage. These individuals embody Roosevelt’s call to faithful protection and unselfish performance.

我们应该感谢科学界认同了这句话。研究人员正在孜孜不倦地研制疫苗，调查病毒的起源，以便预防未来的疫情。医务工作者冒着暴露在病毒中的风险治疗新冠患者，降低死亡率；许多一线工人受到感染，有些人在这些勇敢的行动中死亡。这些人都体现了罗斯福对忠诚的保护和无私履职的号召。

They have seen neither quality exhibited by their president and his coconspirators. Trump was not clueless, and he was not ignoring the briefings. Listen to his own words. Trump lied, plain and simple.

总统和他的同谋者身上都没有这两种品质。川普并不是一无所知，他也没有无视汇报。听听他自己说的话。川普撒谎了，就是这么简单。

原文链接：

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/11/science.abe7391.full

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