Reuters The magazine said Joe Biden will bring badly needed scientific rigour back into policy making

Scientific American magazine has endorsed a candidate for the White House for the first time, breaking a 175-year taboo.

The magazine, which has 10m readers worldwide, is backing Joe Biden for president in November’s elections. It said it didn’t take its political intervention lightly.

Scientific American hit out at President Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, branding it “inept”. The magazine also said his "ongoing denial of reality" on climate change and environmental policies were hobbling the United States.

America’s oldest continuously published magazine said Mr Biden will bring badly needed scientific rigour back into policy making.

In a statement to the Washington Post , the Trump campaign said the president had "listened to the medical experts every step of the way to fight the coronavirus".