President Donald Trump lashed out at Dr. Deborah Birx, a top official on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, on Monday after she expressed a grim outlook on the virus still rocking the country.
“So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics,” Trump tweeted. “In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!”
The President’s tweet seemed to be a response to Birx’s interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, during which the doctor warned that the U.S. was in “a new phase” of the virus.
“I want to be very clear: What we are seeing today is different from March and April,” Birx told CNN anchor Dana Bash. “It is extraordinarily widespread.”
Though Birx’s comment was a plain contradiction of Trump’s repeated insistence that most of the country is doing “very well,” she did not actually criticize Trump or the administration during the interview.
The health official also denied that she was falsely spinning the pandemic in a positive light on Trump’s behalf after Bash mentioned that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had said she did not have confidence in Birx.
“I have never been called Pollyannish or non-scientific or non-data-driven,” Birx said. “And I will stake my 40-year career on those fundamental principles of utilizing data to really implement better programs to save more lives.”
Birx stated that she has “tremendous respect for” Pelosi and “her long dedication to the American people.”
