Pressed on the real-world effects of ending affirmative action in higher education, Mike Pence conceded, 'I don’t know the numbers.' As stevebenen writes, since policymaking based on hunches is unwise, maybe he should know the numbers?
“Look, I haven’t seen your studies. I don’t know the numbers. ... I’m just very confident with the progress that we have made now in 2023, a fourth of the way through the 21st century, the achievements of African Americans, leaving aside the achievements of the first African American president, and African Americans all across the country. I’m just very confident that African Americans, Hispanic Americans and other minorities are going to be able to compete and succeed.
Over the course of both interviews, the former vice president kept sharing his impressions. He expressed “confidence” that affirmative action in admissions is no longer needed. He shared his “belief” that the demise of the policy won’t have adverse effects. But policymaking based on hunches is rarely a good idea. In this instance, Pence expressed his opinion, at which point Karl pointed to actual real-world evidence. Asked for reaction, the candidate conceded he doesn’t “know the numbers.”
But why doesn’t he know the numbers? If given a choice between taking positions based on evidence and adopting stances based on general assumptions about society, isn’t the former better than the latter? In the same ABC interview, Karl noted that the Supreme Court left affirmative action in place at military academies. Pence responded that the American military has long been “an instrument of advancing equality since virtually the founding of this country.”
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