Birx risks reputation in bid to keep on Trump's good side
Birx risks reputation in bid to keep on Trump's good side
The taskforce coordinator has tried to walk a diplomatic tightrope – but has failed to speak out against the president’s false claims
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/30/dr-deborah-birx-coronavirus-taskforce-trump
Sometimes the story is not so much Donald Trump as the people around him, and not so much what they say but what they don’t.
Last Thursday Deborah Birx sat in the White House press briefing room as the US president speculated on whether injecting disinfectant might offer a “cleaning” of the lungs.
“Don’t do anything he just said!” is what Dr Birx should have exclaimed at that moment, argues Kurt Bardella, a political columnist and commentator, explaining: “A doctor right there has an obligation to correct that in real time. If the president wants to fire that person, then so be it.”
But Birx said no such thing.
The cringeworthy remarks about disinfectant and ultraviolet light compounded fears that Birx, the lead advocate of social distancing, has been somewhat less successful at critical distancing from the president. Like other White House officials before her, she is said to be sacrificing a hard-won professional reputation at the altar of Trump’s vanity.
Critics note that she has repeatedly failed to speak out against the president’s false and potentially dangerous claims when the occasion demands. Worse still, in an apparent attempt to stay in his good graces, the 64-year-old doctor and diplomat has praised Trump and even sided with him in jabbing at the media.
<<snip>>
= new reply since forum marked as read
