Bill Nye has been science-associated for a long time but has never really been "a scientist"--he has an undergrad degree in mechanical engineering (engineering is not a science): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Nye

Not to take anything away from his popularization of science--that's great!--but your characterization is inaccurate. Understandable; a lot of popular accounts don't get this right either because, I guess, every sort of STEM is indistinguishable to them from any other sort? Anyway.

If you want to use him in an argument from authority, note that he's been prominently wrong on positions on scientific issues in the past due to inadequate understanding of the topic (opposition to GMOs being the most notable--to his credit, he corrected his position; less to his credit, this happened right after a visit to Monsanto). Nonetheless, he's a pretty solid thinker, and definitely embraces the scientific spirit if not actually being "a scientist" himself (and the spirit is more important).

Still, you've oversold him here.