Dr. Deborah Birx, the former coordinator of Trump’s White House Coronavirus Task Force, said nothing in her four decades of public service prepared her for the chaotic Trump White House or the politically charged handling of the pandemic, saying to ‘Face the Nation that she ‘always’ considered leaving her post.
In an interview that aired ‘Face the Nation’ on Sunday, Birx told moderator Margaret Brennan that even close colleagues with whom she had worked for decades of research into the AIDS virus questioned her political allegiance amid a wave. of criticism of the Trump White House response. to the virus.
“I mean, why would you want to let yourself go through that every day? Colleagues of mine that I knew for decades … decades in that one experience, being in the White House decided I had become this political person, too though they always knew me. 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 that’s something I asked myself every night, “she told myself. Brennan.
Birx, who had been appointed by former President Obama as President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) administrator, joined the Trump administration in March 2020 to help coordinate the COVID-19 response.
She added, “When it got to a point where I got nowhere and that was just before the election, I wrote a very detailed communication plan on what to do the day after the election and how to do it. promise that would happen. “
Birx explained to Brennan that at the time it was clear how the 2020 election was a factor in the task force’s diminished communication about the deadly virus. She said she was “censored” by the White House, banned from national media for a time, but insisted she never intentionally withhold information from the public themselves.
Since then, more than 400,000 Americans have died of the virus and millions have lost their jobs as a result of the economic fallout.
In her interview, the career health officer addressed the criticism she faced towards the end of her tenure in the White House and the subsequent pressure on her family for spending time in a family vacation home after the Thanksgiving holiday, despite the guidance of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging Americans not to travel or mingle with people outside of their own household at the time.
She told Brennan that she plans to retire from her current role at the CDC “ within four to six weeks, ” which will lead her to a career spanning four decades in public service as an army officer, manager of PEPFAR AIDS research and ultimately a tumultuous run as one of the top US officials leading the government response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Questions about Birx’s role in the current administration also surfaced Friday, when Steven Portnoy of CBS News asked the White House press secretary if Birx was still on President Biden’s COVID-19 response team.
“I have to go back to that,” said press secretary Jen Psaki. “That’s an excellent question.”
More of Birx’s interview will air this Sunday on “Face the Nation” on CBS at 10:30 am EST.