Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar called out CNN on Friday evening after the news outlet reported that he had resigned from his cabinet position with less than a week left in President Donald Trump’s term in office.
“Contrary to the CNN chyron, I am still here serving the American people at HHS,” said Azar. “I believe it is my duty to help ensure a smooth transition to President-elect Biden’s team during the pandemic and will remain as Secretary through January 20.”
Contrary to the @CNN chyron, I am still here serving the American people at HHS. I believe it is my duty to help ensure a smooth transition to President-elect Biden’s team during the pandemic and will remain as Secretary through January 20. pic.twitter.com/zXe1y2om1k
— Secretary Alex Azar (@SecAzar) January 16, 2021
A CNN Chyron on Anderson Cooper’s show read: “HHS Secretary Azar Resigns And Cites DC Violence; Says Capitol Hill Riots ‘Were An Assault On Our Democracy.’” It’s unclear if the network aired other chyrons suggesting Azar had resigned.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar has resigned with only five days left on the job.
He should have resigned months ago for his failed leadership on the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/bREz4idOKo
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 16, 2021
While Azar did submit a resignation letter, he followed up his CNN call-out tweet by saying that similar letters are filed by “every other political appointee.” Azar also said that his resignation won’t take effect until 12:00pm on January 20, 2021, when President-elect Joe Biden will assume office as the 46th president of the United States.
In his letter to the president, Azar invoked Trump administration initiatives aimed at advancing the U.S., such as combating the COVID-19 pandemic and improving rural health care. However, Azar also warned Trump that his post-election rhetoric and the recent attack on the Capitol building threatened to “tarnish” his own accomplishments as president.
“I implore you to continue to condemn unequivocally any form of violence, to demand that no one attempt to disrupt the inaugural activities in Washington or elsewhere, and continue to support unreservedly the peaceful and orderly transition of power on January 20, 2021,” wrote Azar in the letter to Trump, which was dated January 12.
Other Trump administration officials have referenced the attack on the Capitol building in resignation letters more explicitly, including former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, both of whom were early members of Trump’s cabinet.
“We should be highlighting and celebrating your Administration’s many accomplishments on behalf of the American people,” DeVos wrote in a letter to the president in the wake of the Capitol attack. “Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protestors overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people’s business. That behavior was unconscionable for our country. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.”