The House Select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis says that former United States President Donald Trump's administration officials purposely tried to "undermine" the country's COVID-19 response to prioritize political efforts.
In a statement, the committee, which worked for months to interview various Trump officials, said the Republican businessman's administration during his presidency cooperated with each other to undermine the public health response to the coronavirus pandemic. They allegedly blocked officials from speaking publicly, watering down testing guidance, and even planning to interfere with other public health guidance.
Undermine Public Health Guidance
The report also detailed several other documents and interviews that have been released throughout the year. However, there were new examples where authorities adapted health guidance despite concerns from various officials regarding the potentially harmful effects of the revisions, CNN reported.
The House Select Subcommittee's report alleged that Trump's administration was "responsible for a series of critical failures that undermined the nation's ability to respond effectively to the coronavirus pandemic." The report claims that the former president's allies prioritized politics over science when responding to the health crisis.
The committee's report details how the Trump administration had an apparent disregard for the clear, urgent warning regarding the approaching coronavirus pandemic. The documents detail how the former president's actions, along with his cronies, have stifled the nation's efforts to procure much-needed resources, equipment, and supplies, contributing to the large number of American lives lost to the pandemic.
Read Also: CDC Recommends Moderna, Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccines Over J&J Due to Rare Blood Clot Cases
On Jan. 21, 2020, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first reported case of the coronavirus in the United States. It took the Trump administration nearly a month before declaring the coronavirus outbreak to be a public health emergency, USA Today reported.
In a statement, the deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC, Dr. Jay Butler, told the committee that Trump's White House instructed him to give "softened" guidance to religious and faith communities. The official said he was forced to give guidance to American citizens, including the protocol on masks and church services, that were not in line with critical health recommendations.
Prioritizing Politics Over Science
In the committee's report, Butler said that he was doing a lot of "soul searching" about whether or not he should have agreed to the Republican businessman's efforts to make the changes. "Clearly, it was a directive, but that was a real struggle as I felt like what had been done was not good public health practice," UPI reported.
The White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, said she was extremely upset about one meeting with a group of "fringe doctors." She allegedly told her colleagues that she would not be attending the meeting, the report said.
The official's reason for not attending the meeting was over a proposal to allow the coronavirus to spread unchecked across the United States in an attempt to achieve herd immunity, which she claims that a group of doctors supported. Later on in the health crisis, the proposal was leaked to news media and universally received scrutiny among the medical community for its apparent irresponsible views.
Related Article:
Commendable Work by Northshore Clinical Labs Has Helped Hundreds of Thousands Test for COVID-19
