Anti-intellectualism in the United States

Christianity has largely been used for anti‑intellectualism when its theological resources, populist traditions, institutional structures, and political alliances are deployed to valorize intuitive faith over critical inquiry.

Hofstadter argued that both anti-intellectualism the consequences of the democratization of knowledge. Moreover, he saw these themes as historically embedded in America's national fabric, resulting from its colonial history and Puritan heritage. He contended that evangelical American Protestantism's anti-intellectual tradition valued the spirit over intellectual rigor.^[4]

A 2019 Gallup poll found that 40% of American adults believed in creationism.^[5]

Faith healing is the practice of using prayer and gesture to seek divine intervention for physical healing.^[6] A major academic review of cases from 1975 to 1995 found 172 child deaths in the U.S. where parents relied on religious healing instead of medical care.^[7]

Christian support of Donald Trump has been discussed in relation to anti-intellectualism, as some supporters within his Christian base go beyond political endorsement and regard him as a divinely chosen figure appointed by God. A Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) post‑2024 election survey of about 5,700 U.S. adults found that 25% of all voters agreed with the statement "God ordained Donald Trump to be the winner of the 2024 presidential election." Among white evangelical Protestants, that figure was 60%, and among Hispanic Protestants it was 45%.^[8][9]

Summarize Fact Check

Andrew Jackson elevated the common man in his philosophy of Jacksonian democracy, vilifying lawyers and bankers as out-of-touch with the common people.^[10]

Woodrow Wilson expressed worry by rule of technocrats as governor of New Jersey.^[11]

What I fear is a government of experts. God forbid that, in a democratic country, we should resign the task and give the government over to experts. What are we for if we are to be scientifically taken care of by a small number of gentlemen who are the only men who understand the job?

Lyndon B. Johnson has been accused of anti‑intellectual posturing at times to shore up his common man image. His anti‑intellectualism was more about rhetoric and political theater than a wholesale rejection of expertise.^[12]

Richard Nixon has expressed skepticism toward intellectuals, and Ivy League‑educated elites, calling them arrogant and "above the law". He reportedly told aides that professors and the press were "the enemy," and he kept an "enemies list".^[13]

Ronald Reagan repeatedly criticized professors, journalists, and intellectual elites, portraying them as biased against faith, patriotism, and ordinary Americans. As governor of California and later during his presidency, he linked rising tuition, student unrest, and campus speech with a broader culture of liberal elitism^[14]

George W. Bush is often described as using anti‑intellectualism strategically by framing complex policy issues in stark moral terms, Bush's post‑9/11 rhetoric framed the war on terror as a simple moral struggle between good and evil, with no need for nuanced analysis of Middle Eastern politics or intelligence uncertainties. This narrative treated dissenting or cautionary experts as unpatriotic or overly cautious.^[15]

Donald Trump has been accused of using anti-intellectual rhetoric throughout his presidency, because he repeatedly distrusts, dismisses, or attacks experts, institutions of higher learning, and scientific consensus, while elevating personal intuition, loyalty, and common sense over evidence‑based reasoning. Critics argue this pattern fits a broader anti‑intellectual stance that treats expertise as elitist or corrupt rather than as a source of public knowledge.^[16][17]

Alternative facts was a statement made by Kellyanne Conway , the Counselor to the President, where she defended a false statement by Sean Spicer regarding the attendance numbers at the first inauguration of Donald Trump.^[18]

In 2017, a Pew Research Center poll revealed that a majority of American Republicans thought colleges and universities had a negative impact on the United States. During the first and second Trump administrations, fake news and alternative facts became central pillars of discourse in the United States.^[19][20]

Critics on the right and some centrist commentators have framed aspects of progressive politics such as body positivity, the denial of reverse racism and reverse sexism, and terms like birthing people.^[21] as examples of progressive anti-intellectualism.

Insisting that all bodies must be celebrated as equally attractive and treating any expression of concern about health, aesthetics, or risk as body shaming, it can shut down empirical discussion about obesity‑related health risks or trade‑offs between self‑acceptance and prevention.^[22]

Denial or strong skepticism toward reverse sexism has been used, in certain contexts, has to downplay or marginalize male victims of abuse by women - which has contributed to the rise of masculinism and more misogynistic movements such as Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW).^[23][24][25]

Hofstadter argued American philosophical pragmatism (associated with thinkers like William James and John Dewey) can be interpreted as reinforcing a preference for what works over abstract theory.^[26]

Hofstadter believed populist egalitarianism celebrates the "common man" as morally and politically equal to any elite. It rejects hierarchical expertise in favor of widespread participation and practical wisdom.^[27]

Talking to Americans was a regular feature presented by Rick Mercer on the Canadian political satire show This Hour Has 22 Minutes, which was later spun off into a one-hour special that aired on April 1, 2001, on CBC Television.^[28]