Adm. Brett Giroir pushed back on some of the public health recommendations made by his colleague on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“I respect Dr. Fauci a lot, but Dr. Fauci is not 100% right, and he also doesn’t necessarily, he admits that, have the whole national interest in mind,” Giroir said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. “He looks at it at a very narrow public health point of view.”
The Washington Post reported Saturday on recent conversations between the White House and Fauci, during which the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases pushed for lockdowns in the parts of the country experiencing COVID-19 spikes.
“There is no buy-in for that,” he said, however, according to an anonymous official.
TODAY on #MTP: Admiral Brett Giroir says “Dr. Fauci is not 100 percent right.” #MTP #IfItSunday@HHS_ASH: “He looks at it from a very narrow public health point of view.” pic.twitter.com/EE07SYXEAd
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 12, 2020
Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, also defended the task force, saying it embraces open communication between members. He added that he feels he can say whatever he needs to Vice President Mike Pence, who then typically briefs President Trump.
“There is complete open, honest discussion within the task force,” Giroir said. “The task force meets three to four times a week. The vice president calls me regularly. Dr. Birx is not one to hold her tongue. Believe me, if there’s a public health opinion that needs to be said, that needs to be it.”
The coronavirus testing czar added that he believes science should be driving health policies and asserted that recommendations from the White House are based on such.
The United States has reported over 3 million cases of coronavirus and is nearing 140,000 deaths from the disease.
