National Review
Axios deletes tweet when examining VP’s ‘starting from scratch’ vaccine claim
Axios deleted a tweet examining a complaint by Kamala Harris that the Biden government was “starting from scratch” with the COVID-19 vaccines and has not yet explained the decision, despite having promised in January “to take responsibility for all the content that appears on our public platforms. ”The opening tweet, which highlighted an interview between Harris and Axios co-founder Mike Allen, which aired on HBO on Sunday, contrasted Harris’s claims with those of Dr. Anthony Fauci. a national vaccination strategy or plan. We were leaving it up to states and local leaders to try to find out, “said Harris.” And then, in many ways, we’re starting from scratch on something that’s been going on for almost an entire year. ” Fauci said during a press conference at the White House in January that “we are certainly not starting from scratch because there are activities going on in the distribution.” Several current and former Operation Warp Speed officials confirmed Fauci’s report, telling the National Review that the Trump administration coordinated with the CDC and local leaders to develop 64 regional implementation plans and gave the Biden transition team more than 300 HHS meetings. @ VP told @mikeallen that “there was no national strategy or vaccination plan “And that Administrator Biden was” starting from scratch. “This is wrong. The Trump administrator had a plan to distribute to locations chosen by the states and let them take over from there. Https://t.co/0MoQ8OnpoN pic .twitter.com / nYb8r5gPKz – PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) February 15, 2021 But Axios’ tweet, published on Sunday night with Fauci’s January line, was later deleted without explanation. u a later tweet of the exchange, without the Fauci context, and also tweeted a link to Allen’s story, which does not mention the Fauci statement on Monday. Why did Axios delete this tweet? pic.twitter.com/94HNrOIgrW – Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) February 15, 2021. @ VP Harris: “There was no national strategy or vaccination plan. … We are starting from scratch.” @ mikeallen: Are you having to adjust your aim now than is possible, considering this? @VP: “We need to find a way.… No patience for, ‘It can’t be done’.” #AxiosOnHBO pic.twitter.com/opif5rjg96 – Axios (@axios) February 15, 2021 Axios did not return multiple requests for comment on why the tweet was deleted and whether the White House contacted him to complain about his framing . In January, the vehicle published its “Bill of Rights”, which includes a promise to “take responsibility for all content that appears on our public platforms, pressing us to provide the highest level of scrutiny”. In recent weeks, Axios was investigated after it was revealed that one of its reporters, Alexi McCammond – who previously covered the Biden campaign – was dating Biden’s press journalist, TJ Ducklo. Although Axios promised in January that the perceived conflicts of interest “will be revealed at the end of the story,” McCammond’s work covering the Biden transition received no note from the editor. An Axios spokesman initially told Politico that McCammond had been removed from the Biden area, only to clarify later that McCammond had “been left behind” in Biden’s coverage. McCammond was transferred to cover progressives in Congress and Vice President Harris after revealing his relationship with the Axios leadership in November. “TJ hasn’t been the source of any stories I’ve worked on or in any position since we started dating,” McCammond told People for a brilliant profile of their relationship. On Saturday, Ducklo resigned as deputy press secretary for the White House after threatening and demeaning Politician reporter Tara Palmeri for covering his relationship as a potential conflict of interest. “I will destroy you,” Ducklo told Palmeri, the day before President Biden told his political appointees in a virtual oath ceremony that “if you work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk to someone, I I’m going to fire you on the spot. I don’t want any excuses. ” After the altercation story broke, Ducklo was initially suspended for a week without pay – a decision that White House press secretary Jen Psaki said came with Chief of Staff Ron Klain, but not with Biden.