In this episode, we're diving into a disturbing resurgence of an old and discredited idea on the American right: racial differences in intelligence. Vox's Zack Beauchamp explores how figures like Darren Beattie, a senior State Department official, have helped bring race-based IQ theories back into conservative discourse. These ideas, once considered fringe and career-ending—like Jason Richwine’s forced resignation from the Heritage Foundation in 2013—are now embraced by key figures in Trump-era politics and right-wing intellectual circles. The article explains how this ideology, often repackaged under terms like "race realism" or "human biodiversity," serves to justify social hierarchies as biological inevitabilities rather than the results of systemic inequality. While mainstream science rejects genetic explanations for racial IQ gaps, right-wing commentators dismiss such consensus as "woke academia," further fueling the spread of these beliefs in elite conservative spaces.

Key Points:

• Darren Beattie’s Comments & Background: Beattie, a senior State Department official, was revealed to have called Secretary of State Marco Rubio “low IQ” in a resurfaced tweet. He has a history of controversial views, including giving a speech at a white nationalist conference.
• Race and IQ in Right-Wing Circles: The online right has an obsession with IQ as a way to justify economic and social disparities among racial groups. Terms like “human biodiversity” and “race realism” give a pseudoscientific veneer to these ideas.
• Mainstreaming of Scientific Racism: Figures like Jason Richwine, once cast out of conservative institutions for race-based intelligence theories, are now finding their views increasingly accepted in the Trump era. Nathan Cofnas, a controversial academic, claims race-based IQ differences are widely assumed among younger right-wing intellectuals.
• The Rejection of Academic Consensus: While modern scientific research debunks race-IQ genetic differences, the right dismisses these findings using the same rhetoric it applies to climate change, vaccine science, and economic theory—labeling them as "woke" or ideologically biased.
• Trump’s Role: Trump himself has echoed genetic determinism, making statements about immigrants having “bad genes” and appointing individuals with race-based IQ beliefs to government positions.
• From Fringe to Elite Circles: These racist ideas are no longer just anonymous online trolling—they’re becoming the default assumptions in right-wing intellectual salons and policy discussions.

With the Trump era eroding moral barriers against open racism in conservative circles, the resurgence of these dangerous and long-debunked ideas raises serious concerns for the future of public discourse and policy. Stay tuned as we break down why these beliefs persist despite decades of scientific refutation.
Link to Article