In 1962, the HHS convened a committee on smoking. Half of the members smoked, yet after reviewing the evidence most had quit.
The public—hearing a 'debate'—then took 35+ years to halve their rate... Misinfo wins when we elevate rhetoricians over those with a stake in the issue.
It certainly triumphed during the pandemic: in which our government elevated talking heads from a think tank (including The Hoover Institution's Scott Atlas) over our nation's public health experts.