The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has grown increasingly concerned that President Donald Trump, pushed by a new member of his coronavirus task force, is sharing incorrect information about the pandemic with the public.
Dr. Robert Redfield, who leads the CDC, suggested in a conversation with a colleague Friday that Dr. Scott Atlas is arming Trump with misleading data about a range of issues, including questioning the efficacy of masks, whether young people are susceptible to the virus and the potential benefits of herd immunity.
"Everything he says is false," Redfield said during a phone call made in public on a commercial airline and overheard by NBC News.
Redfield acknowledged after the flight from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., that he was speaking about Atlas, a neuroradiologist with no background in infectious diseases or public health. Atlas was brought on to the White House task force in August.
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In an emailed statement, a CDC spokesman said: "NBC News is reporting one side of a private phone conversation by CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield that was overheard on a plane from Atlanta Hartsfield airport. Dr. Redfield was having a private discussion regarding a number of points he has made publicly about Covid-19."
Birx has been making some noise that suggests she may be leaving on her own. Word is she is a tad frustrated with Dear Leader and he steady stream of disinformation.
I think Birx is, sadly, a little disheartened by no longer being the leading medical expert. She's been displaced by Atlas. I wish it was that she couldn't stomach the President's lies, but there's no evidence to suggest that those lies bothered her before Atlas came on the scene.
On the larger point, I don't think he can afford to fire Redfield until the day after the election.
