Recap of COURIER’s Facts vs. Fiction: The Fight for Science in American Democracy

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 11, 2026

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RECAP: “Science is Fundamentally Hope” — 314 Action and COURIER Newsroom Host Conversation on the War on Science, Healthcare and Rise of AI

(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — Today, 314 Action and COURIER Newsroom hosted a live virtual conversation on the path to winning back the Senate, the rise and regulation of AI, and how to combat the administration’s attacks on science and healthcare. 314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton was joined by U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Representative Emily Gregory (FL-HD-87), Dr. Annie Andrews for U.S. Senate (SC), Dr. Paul A. Offit, and Dr. Vin Gupta. Representative Eric Sorensen (IL-17) also delivered pre-recorded remarks.

Speakers discussed the impacts of dismantling FEMA, recent threats to NCAR, and Democrats’ role in shaping the future of Artificial Intelligence. Speakers also highlighted the importance of electing scientists, doctors, engineers, and STEM experts to office to help deliver evidence-based policy and fight for our democracy.

This is the second in a two-part virtual series ahead of 314 Action’s ten-year anniversary in June 2026. Watch the first event here.

Excerpts from speaker remarks are below:

Shaughnessy Naughton, 314 Action President

What science is fundamentally is hope—and that is what people need. Especially right now, we’re living through an administration that is working very hard to dismantle the scientific institutions that have allowed us to bring these incredible advancements to the American people and beyond.

I think what we have to be thinking about is not just building back what was there, what has been destroyed by DOGE and RFK Jr. and Donald Trump, but thinking about how we can make this work even better for the future to usher in the next 100 years of technology and medical advancements that America should lead on and can lead on if we restore proper leadership to our government.

U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ)

This administration doesn’t really care about science all that much, but here’s the thing. Science doesn’t care if you don’t believe in it. That’s why we’re going to continue to fight, John and I, as believers of science and data and facts, for funding for things like NOAA and the National Weather Service. We don’t need to be less prepared. We’ve got to make sure that we protect the American public, and ultimately, it comes down to winning elections.

U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO)

What [the Trump administration] is doing, is they’re using facts that suit their purposes and cherry-picking those facts. It is almost worse than having no science at all, not having any trust in any facts, which is obviously what they’re trying to get us to that point of view one way or the other.

We’re not going to be able to solve real problems at any scale if we can’t get back to using the same deck of facts, and unfortunately, this White House has been categorically opposed to that, and is pretty much nonstop trying to dilute and reduce the public trust in our scientific establishment.

U.S. Representative Eric Sorensen (IL-17)

I became a model for what could happen in districts all across this country. I want you to ask yourself, what would it mean for the climate crisis if we started electing more trusted meteorologists, what would it mean for renewables and innovation and technology?

And it might surprise you that, since I do not have a background in politics, I get to work across the aisle using science and data when others fail. I’ve introduced and passed legislation to help real people, lowering prescription drug costs, funding big local infrastructure projects back home, helping farmers and veterans and seniors.

Dr. Annie Andrews, Candidate for U.S. Senate in South Carolina and pediatrician

This moment is so urgent for public health and America’s healthcare system. We need leaders to step up, who are willing to just say what needs to be said, and that’s what I’m hearing on the ground. People in South Carolina are still worried about the measles outbreak, as they should be. They’re worried about the impending Medicaid budget cuts that will devastate access for so many people who live in rural South Carolina, and they’re wondering why prescription drug prices continue to go up, and the administration seems to care about everything but actually addressing that problem.

Florida Representative Emily Gregory (FL-HD-87)

Are we getting the public health outcomes we want—and that applies across property insurance and healthcare for the highest utilizer of ACA tax plans? And we’re still bleeding out with cancellations since January 1st when credit tax credits expired. I think it’s really, really important to try to lower the temperature.

These algorithms that are designed to stoke anger and fear, they’re very effective, and they really pit us against them—and we really need to be finding commonalities. I truly believe that most of us agree on about 90% of issues, and we’re letting the 10% where there’s space, and when we have different worldviews dictate the conversation, so that’s really where I was successful in flipping a R-Leaning district—by focusing on data, focusing on non-emotional data points to help voters see where we’re aligned and where we want the same thing.

Dr. Paul A. Offit, Director, Vaccine Education Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Politics might change, but the science doesn’t. No matter how many times Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says vaccines cause a safety problem that it doesn’t cause, or no matter how many media venues, or influencers, or congressmen, or discredited scientists, or physicians, he gets to agree with them, it’s not true. And we just have to continue to stand up for the science, that is a powerful thing to have on our side.

Watch the full recording here.

314 Action is the only national organization working to recruit, train and elect Democratic scientists across all levels of government—from the Senate down to local school boards. The organization is powered by a grassroots community of over six million people supporting scientists and health care professionals who will use science and facts to address the most urgent issues facing our generation.

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