You're right, but I believe the problem is that populists use arguments and ways of speaking that are deceiving and very hard to counter even if absolutely wrong. This makes a public debate a bad platform for engaging them.

For example, with the idea of "survival of the fittest" claiming that some genes are better than others and we should prioritise them sounds simple enough to some poeple, but explaining all the ways in which that's not only wrong but dangerous to the human race is nuanced and by then people stopped listening. Then the populist claims you're an elitist and the debate is over.

But I understand your concern it's a difficult topic to tackle.