Dr. Deborah Birx, former coordinator of Trump’s White House Coronavirus Task Force, said nothing in her four decades of public service has prepared her for Trump’s chaotic White House or politically charged manipulation of the pandemic, saying “Face the Nation” that she “always” considered giving up her post.
In an air interview in the “Face the Nation” newspaper, Birx told moderator Margaret Brennan that even close colleagues with whom she worked during decades of research on the AIDS virus questioned her political loyalty amid a barrage of criticism against the response. Trump White House for the virus.
“I mean, why would you want to submit to it every day? Colleagues of mine that I knew for decades … decades in that experience, because I was in the White House, decided that I had become that political person, even though they’ve known me forever. I had to ask myself every morning, is there anything I think I can do that would be helpful in responding to this pandemic and is something I asked myself every night, “she said to Brennan.
Birx, who had been appointed by former President Obama as Administrator of PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), joined the Trump administration in March 2020 to help coordinate the COVID-19 response.
She added, “When it became a point where I was getting nowhere and it was like just before the election, I wrote a very detailed communication plan of what needed to happen the day after the election and how it needed to be carried out. . And there was a lot of promise that it would happen. “
Birx explained to Brennan that it was clear at that point how the 2020 election was a factor in the task force’s reduced communication about the deadly virus. She said she was “censored” by the White House, prevented from doing national media for a while, but insisted she never intentionally withheld information from the public.
More than 400,000 Americans have died from the virus since then and millions have lost their jobs as a result of the economic crisis.
In her interview, the career health officer addressed the criticisms she received at the end of her tenure at the White House and the subsequent pressure on her family for spending time at a vacation home after Thanksgiving, despite guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention urging Americans not to travel or mingle with people outside their home at that time.
She told Brennan that she plans to retire “within the next four to six weeks” from her current position at the CDC, crowning a four-decade career in public service as an Army officer, administrator of PEPFAR’s AIDS research and, finally, a turbulent one. executed as one of the top US officials guiding the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Questions about Birx’s role in the current administration were also raised on Friday, when Steven Portnoy of CBS News asked the White House press secretary whether Birx was still on President Biden’s COVID-19 response team.
“I’m going to have to talk about it again,” said press secretary Jen Psaki. “That is an excellent question.”
More of Birx’s interview will air on Sunday in “Face the Nation” on CBS at 10:30 EST.