As the coronavirus pandemic death toll quickly approaches 160,000 Americans, President Donald Trump continues to attack and try to discredit the most prominent public faces of his Coronavirus Task Force. This time, instead of slamming Dr. Anthony Fauci, he’s going after Dr. Deborah Birx, calling her “pathetic” – and saying she “took the bait & hit us” after she was chastised by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Trump appears to be furious that Dr. Birx over the weekend told the truth about the state of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. While many countries have been able to get the virus under control, the United States is still deep within its first wave – meaning the fall and winter seasons should be especially deadly.
Birx admitted the pandemic is “extraordinarily widespread” in the U.S., countering Trump’s false claims.
“It’s not super spreading individuals, it’s super spreading events and we need to stop those,” Birx said on CNN. “We definitely need to take more precautions.”
Trump hit back Monday morning:
Speaker Pelosi acknowledged she does not have confidence in Birx.
The American public has also criticized Birx for several reasons, including being overly positive and not leveling with them. She’s also come under attack after news reports revealed her dangerously false projections about the coronavirus pandemic suggested the virus would burn itself out months ago, leading the White House to push re-opening the country.
Birx first came under scrutiny after telling reporters Trump understands the coronavirus data at a “granular level,” suggesting he had a handle on the pandemic when it was clear he did not. She later took fire for sitting idly by instead of correcting the President as Trump announced to the nation he believed scientists should study the effects of injecting disinfectants into the human body. Those remarks lead to a tremendous uptick in people misusing common household items like bleach, causing increased hospitalizations and calls to poison control centers. One third of Americans, according to a study, admitted to misusing the chemicals.