White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas hit back at his colleagues Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Robert Redfield, accusing them of pushing a “false narrative” about President Donald Trump by criticizing him for misleading the public about the pandemic.
During an appearance on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Atlas took several not-so-veiled shots at the heads of the NIAID and CDC, respectively. His pushback came on the same day that Redfield was overheard dismissing an unnamed White House adviser’s Covid guidance — and then later confirmed he was talking about Atlas: “Everything he says is false.” Just hours later, Fauci had told CNN’s Brian Stelter that Atlas was “an outlier” in the White House coronavirus task force for downplaying the value of wearing masks and social distancing.
Ingraham, picking up on Fauci’s remarks, welcomed Atlas to the show as “the outlier.”
“I thought having opposing voices is part of the scientific process, is it not, about an issue that has so many tentacles coming on the of it like this Covid deal?” Ingraham asked. “Why are they so threatened by you?”
“I think is all feeding into a false narrative that the president doesn’t listen to the scientists,” Atlas said. “The reality is I was called in because I can translate the medical science into public policy. I advise the president to do things like what he is doing.”
In fact, many of Atlas’ critics have worried about exactly that, that Trump brought in Atlas — who is a radiologist, not an epidemiologist — to reinforce Trump’s pre-conceived notions about the pandemic.
“He listens to a lot of people. He understands what the science shows and what should be done to save American lives,” Atlas claimed of the president. “That’s why I am here. I’m not here to make friends.”
Atlas then took two clear shots at Redfield and Fauci for their evolving guidance on masks without specifically naming them.
“There are certain experts that say what I just said, which is vulnerable people protection and save lives by also opening society safely,” Atlas said, as Ingraham began chuckling. “There are others experts who say things like ‘No, you shouldn’t wear masks’ to ‘Yes you should or masks’ to ‘Hey, a mask is a better than a vaccine.’ Or some other expert might say ‘No shouldn’t wear masks’ and then change to ‘Yes, we should wear masks’ to ‘Oh, everyone should wear goggles.’ You’re not going to hear me say that, but the president has a choice of experts to listen to.”
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