Dr. Deborah Birx is a highly respected physician and diplomat who began serving as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator after she was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014. Birx was responsible for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program in 65 countries that supports HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs.
But now she serves for President Trump as the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force — which has made House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lose all confidence in the doctor.
“I think the president is spreading disinformation about the virus, and she is his appointee, and so I don’t have confidence there, no,” Pelosi said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
In a piece posted Friday by Politico headlined “Pelosi trashes Birx,” the political website said the Speaker has been privately bashing the award-winning immunologist.
“Deborah Birx is the worst. Wow, what horrible hands you’re in,” Pelosi reportedly said in a private meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Munchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
“She accused BIRX of spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic while praising ANTHONY FAUCI, who she said ‘came to his senses, and is now a hero,'” Politico reported.
Birx responded diplomatically on saying Sunday, saying she had “tremendous respect for the Speaker.” But she blasted a report in the New York Times report that described Birx as having embraced overly optimistic assessments on the virus.
“I have tremendous respect for the Speaker, and I have tremendous respect for her long dedication to the American people, and I think it was unfortunate that the New York Times wrote this article without speaking to me,” she said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I could have brought forth the data. I provide data every single day with an analysis.”
“This was not a pollyannish view. I’ve never been called pollyannish, or non-scientific, or non-data driven,” Birx said. “I will stake my 40-year career on those fundamental principles of using data to implement better programs and save lives.”
In her CNN appearance, Birx said SARS-CoV2, which causes COVID-19, is more widespread than when it first began sweeping across the nation.