White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas, the conservative contrarian who caught President Donald Trump’s eye (and ear) at least in part for his frequent appearances on Fox News, has carved a niche for himself in pseudoscience.
Atlas — a neuroradiologist who doesn’t have credentials in infectious disease or epidemiology — has pushed a series of baffling claims that have intensified the Trump administration’s mismanagement of the coronavirus all under the guise of science, even though much of his work in recent years has involved advancing public policies aimed at protecting individual freedoms.