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Birx risks reputation in bid to keep on Trump's good side (April)
Back in April, it is was pretty obvious that Birx had decided to sacrifice her integrity in order to remain on Trump's good side. However, with Trump now attacking her for merely acknowledging reality, this just goes to show that there is nothing to be gained by selling out to Trump. Trump will always find another patsy to serve as a scapegoat, and Birx's mistake was to think that she could somehow avoid this fate by trying to legitimize Trump's COVID-19 non-response.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/30/dr-deborah-birx-coronavirus-taskforce-trump
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.
* * *
Birx has been a team player to a fault, careful not to aggravate Trump by tempering his wild medical ruminations and exaggerations about testing capacity. On the contrary, last month she told the Christian Broadcasting Network: “He’s been so attentive to the scientific literature and the details and the data. I think his ability to analyse and integrate data that comes out of his long history in business has really been a real benefit during these discussions about medical issues.” Such remarks have provoked a backlash.
* * *
The disinfectant debacle inflicted a severe political wound for Trump but also caused collateral damage to Birx. When she was pressed about the issue later on two Sunday politics TV shows, she claimed this is merely the way Trump processes new information and expressed frustration that the media had not moved on. “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,” she told CNN’s State of the Union.
Emily Nussbaum, a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine, tweeted: “Dr Birx is going to leave a horrible legacy. It’s one thing to be a cynical paid fixer. It’s worse, in my eyes, to be the expert who props up the mad king. I get that it’s an emergency & I understand the theoretical strategy she may think she’s pursuing, but it’s a moral horror.”
* * *
Birx has been a team player to a fault, careful not to aggravate Trump by tempering his wild medical ruminations and exaggerations about testing capacity. On the contrary, last month she told the Christian Broadcasting Network: “He’s been so attentive to the scientific literature and the details and the data. I think his ability to analyse and integrate data that comes out of his long history in business has really been a real benefit during these discussions about medical issues.” Such remarks have provoked a backlash.
* * *
The disinfectant debacle inflicted a severe political wound for Trump but also caused collateral damage to Birx. When she was pressed about the issue later on two Sunday politics TV shows, she claimed this is merely the way Trump processes new information and expressed frustration that the media had not moved on. “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,” she told CNN’s State of the Union.
Emily Nussbaum, a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine, tweeted: “Dr Birx is going to leave a horrible legacy. It’s one thing to be a cynical paid fixer. It’s worse, in my eyes, to be the expert who props up the mad king. I get that it’s an emergency & I understand the theoretical strategy she may think she’s pursuing, but it’s a moral horror.”
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