Under Donald Trump, public health officials were often frustrated with a president who contradicted his own health experts’ guidelines and research on the virus. Anthony Fauci, the government’s leading infectious disease expert and one of the most active members of the White House’s Covid response team, said he felt released after President Joe Biden took office.
During her interview with Brennan, Birx acknowledged that messages from the Covid government were influenced by the 2020 election policy under Trump, but she denied having concealed any information from the public.
Birx joined the Covid response team from the Trump administration after serving as the U.S. leader in combating global HIV and AIDS under President Barack Obama. Her time working with the Trump White House has made her a household name, as she served as the public face of the government in the crisis, along with Fauci.
Birx announced last month that he would retire from his post after helping transition Biden’s administration to the White House. During his interview with Brennan, Birx clarified that his retirement was likely to take place in the next four to six weeks.
Her retirement announcement last month appeared to be related to the public outcry after the Associated Press reported that she had traveled to family properties in Delaware with three generations of relatives during the Thanksgiving season. Although Birx said that everyone was in her immediate home and that the trip was for property maintenance and not to celebrate the holiday, she was criticized for appearing to exhibit Covid’s distance policies while millions of Americans skipped celebrations due to the pandemic.
Birx said at the time that the experience was “a little overwhelming” and “difficult” for his family.
“You know, they didn’t choose that for me. You know, they tried to support. But to drag my family into this, when my daughter hasn’t left home in 10 months, my parents have been isolated for 10 months, ”said Birx in an interview with Newsy last month. “They were deeply depressed.”