Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:23 pm
During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump spewed misinformation on a regular basis, often putting out anti-science nonsense under the guise of CDC guidance.
Rachel Maddow reported on Monday night that the Biden administration is quietly and quickly doing a massive cleanup effort to scrub the CDC of this anti-science “junk” that the Trump administration left behind.
Leading the effort is the number two official at the CDC, Dr. Anne Schuchat, who Trump silenced during his administration.
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In the Biden administration, she’s allowed to have public facing documents and appearances again,” Maddow said. “In fact, they put her in charge right away of going back over all the CDC COVID guidance and advice that was published during the Trump administration to make sure that none of the junk survived.”
Video:
Rachel Maddow lays out how the Biden administration is quietly scrubbing all of Trump’s anti-science “junk” from CDC guidance and advice. #maddow pic.twitter.com/yvtstySzH1
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 16, 2021
Maddow said:
We got a new president, a new administration, that meant a new CDC director. And now, finally, today, without any fanfare whatsoever, they started to do the cleanup. The number two official at the CDC, Dr. Anne Schuchat, who had been silenced alongside other career scientists at the CDC under the Trump administration. Dr. Schuchat today submitted this very low-key report to the new CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, President Biden’s appointee to run the CDC. And Schuchat, again, was one of the career scientists whose public statements and appearances were stopped by the Trump White House. Well, in the Biden administration, she’s allowed to have public facing documents and appearances again. And, in fact, they put her in charge right away of going back over all the CDC COVID guidance and advice that was published during the Trump administration to make sure that none of the junk survived, to take out, to remove anything that hadn’t really been CDC science, that the Trump administration insisted be put out anyway. She was in charge of a review to identify and root out the junk the Trump administration put out in the CDC’s name or watered down or otherwise corrupted at that agency, so that once again, we the public – we the world – can have confidence in what the CDC says about COVID.
Trump’s failure to lead with science led to the loss of lives and credibility
Donald Trump’s failure to lead with science is one of the main reasons why the United States saw the most COVID cases and deaths in the world.
But it’s also why a world renowned agency like the CDC lost so much credibility at a time when the American people needed it the most.
The Biden administration recognizes that the hundreds of thousands of American lives lost to this deadly virus cannot be brought back. But restoring trust in the CDC and leading with science again can prevent further needless deaths.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
