It’s more nuanced, I think.

Some of those in power do understand science and technology, and have responsible stances.

Some … understand …, and have intentionally-irresponsible stances.

Some do NOT understand, and choose positions either based upon bad information or other priorities entirely.

And those of us not in power are routinely lied to by all four groups, making us question the reputation of literally everything.

I think the end state of this is sort of the dragon eating its tail—not only do those in power no longer understand science and technology (or use their understanding to manipulate others), but the disease then spreads to most everyone else.

Slight addition: some understand that science is immutable (in the platonic sense, whether or not current knowledge is accurate) and therefore willingly work to destroy public belief in science because it's a threat to their own power to declare truth.

Closer to home, here on HN (and in SV generally) there is a lot of support for this regime.

It's infuriating that people who really should know better either remain willfully ignorant or simply view the loss to humanity as an acceptable price to pay for ending up with a lower marginal tax bracket.