President Donald Trump is criticizing Dr. Deborah Birx’s response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), insisting she “hit” his administration by acknowledging the virus is widespread across the United States.
Trump took to Twitter on Monday morning with a fiery tweet attacking Pelosi and Birx. According to Trump, Pelosi’s criticism is based on Birx being “too positive” about the administration’s handling of the coronavirus.
On the other hand, the president also criticized Birx’s remarks about the coronavirus outbreak describing her opinion as “pathetic.”
“So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines [and] Therapeutics,” Trump tweeted. “In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait [and] hit us. Pathetic!”
So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2020
Trump’s tweet came shortly after Birx’s appearance on CNN where she admitted that the current outbreak is “extraordinarily widespread” compared to how it was at the beginning of the pandemic, as previously reported on IJR.
“What we’re seeing today is different from March and April,” Birx told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday. “It is extraordinarily widespread.”
After Pelosi said she does not have confidence in Birx, the White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator responded, “I have tremendous respect for the speaker, and I have tremendous respect for her long dedication to the American people.”
“I have never been called pollyannish, or nonscientific, or non-data driven,” Birx added. “And I will stake my 40-year career on those fundamental principles of utilizing data to really implement better programs to save more lives.”
Trump’s latest attempt to hit back at the expertise of an infectious disease expert comes after multiple attacks against Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Robert Redfield, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
But despite Trump’s criticism of health experts, he too recently admitted that the pandemic “will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better.”
Many of the infectious disease experts have also noted similar concerns about the current state of the coronavirus outbreak as they have reiterated the importance of practicing social distancing.
As the country remains divided on the handling of the coronavirus, there are over 4.8 million positive cases as states across the country continue to see significant rises in cases and infection rates.