In general, a totally agree with you. I was thinking specifically of Neil Ferguson in the UK, who has a history of loudly promoting the worst possible outcomes

In general, a totally agree with you. I was thinking specifically of Neil Ferguson in the UK, who has a history of loudly promoting the worst possible outcomes based on opaque models others in the field have described as an unreliable buggy mess. Yet his data and models were at the forefront of the argument against any relaxation of lockdown or mask wearing rules (all while he was flagrently flouting lockdown to conduct an affair). People like that do not give the general public confidence in the reliability of experts.