Birx, a world-renowned AIDS researcher, was tapped by Vice President Mike Pence to be his “right hand” leading the administration’s turbulent coronavirus response. Yet Trump still grew frustrated with Birx, as he had with other public health experts around him, when she raised alarms about the severity of the pandemic. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) privately called Birx “the worst,” and Birx subsequently said the virus was “extraordinarily widespread” across the nation, Trump disparaged her on Twitter. Pathetic!”Birx told Brennan that she had mounting concerns about the administration’s pandemic strategy, especially closer to the election. “And there was a lot of promise that that would happen.”ADIn a Nov. 2 report, Birx put it bluntly: Sugarcoating the danger of the virus would cost the nation lives.

Source: Washington Post January 23, 2021 03:10 UTC