I was only able to read the abstract. I do think that any discussion on the perceived trustworthiness of ‘scientists’ needs to be specific about the types of scientists under concern. I am personally skeptical of scientists involved in so-called public health whose job is to introduce error through simplification and apply PR (propaganda) techniques across segmented populations (divide and conquer). A major failure point I observe is that some of the scientists’ targets are often not quite as stupid as they assume.
Granted, I am not in the field, not a scientist; I merely live near some and drink wine with them. Nice people.