Now that Donald Trump is no longer president, several of the public health officials that were part of the nation’s pandemic response have publicly detailed the struggles of working under him during the COVI-19 crisis. More than 500,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and complications caused by coronavirus, and while vaccines are saving lives now those lost are a tragic reminder of how poorly the pandemic was handled in several regards. And while Trump was in charge of the country, the response to the pandemic was about as scattershot as it could be. Between bizarre moments where he touted junk science, downplayed its severity or insisted the virus would simply go away, Trump drew near constant criticism and made even the simple act of wearing a mask a political issue.
CNN previewed a show that will premiere on Sunday called COVID War, which included interviews with both Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx about the nation’s response to the pandemic. While the triumph of the vaccine was discussed, one moment that stood out from that preview was when Birx admitted that thousands of lives were lost that could have been prevented if the government reacted differently.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator under former President Trump, said in a CNN documentary clip that she thinks the US could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives lost to Covid-19 following the pandemic's first surge. https://t.co/cB08LLbIaw pic.twitter.com/cXqvnYWYa7
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) March 27, 2021
“I look at it this way: the first time, we had an excuse. There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge,” Birx said in the clip. “All the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially.”
It’s a shocking disclosure from a medical professional that played a role in what the nation’s government did, or could have done, to mitigate those deaths. The former White House coronavirus response director clearly saying the government could have and should have done more to protect people and stop the spread of the deadly virus was a shock to many.
“Dr. Birx” was trending on Twitter as of Saturday, as video of her appearance circulated and drew a lot of comments on the social media network. Many lamented the terrible loss of life from coronavirus over the past year, feeling failures in the Trump administration and other governments making things much worse than they could have been.
Others, though, expressed frustration that Birx enabled Trump and others to create that response. Many simply wished she did more, while others were angry she is now attempting to distance herself from Trump after doing little to stop his uneven and deadly governing.
The malicious incompetence that resulted in hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths starts at the top, with the former President and his enablers.
And who was one of his enablers? Dr. Birx, who was afraid to challenge his unscientific rhetoric and wrongfully praised him. https://t.co/PhiSTUtAzv
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 27, 2021
Dr. Birx’s attempt to clear her name after almost 550,000 American deaths is pathetic and shouldn’t be given air time.
— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) March 28, 2021
So painful to know this, and so infuriating that people were complicit and kept quiet. People like Dr. Birx. https://t.co/XNK59FhrSN
— Wajahat "Butter King" Ali (@WajahatAli) March 27, 2021
“It makes me angry. It happened on her watch…this was her job. If things weren't being done to her liking, her duty was to stand up and speak up.” @JReinerMD reacts to Dr. Birx saying Covid-19 deaths after first surge "could have been mitigated or decreased." pic.twitter.com/VNmx4pLY2m
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) March 27, 2021
Dr. Birx chose her job over hundreds of thousands of American lives.
— Kate
(@ImSpeaking13) March 27, 2021
It’s just one comment from a much larger interview and reflection on the pandemic response, but it speaks to the frustrations many have had over the state of things under Trump and even today, as the vaccine rollout is now a race against time as new variants and strains of COVID-19 continue to make people sick and die. There’s a lot of blame to go around when it comes to all the pain and death America has experienced over the last year, but many wanted to make it clear that Birx bears some of that blame as well.
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