House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is doubling down on her criticism of White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx for not challenging President Donald Trump over his false or misleading statements about the coronavirus.
During an appearance on CNN on Monday, Pelosi was asked about her criticism of Birx.
The House speaker said she had a discussion with members of the administration over the weekend on efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus. And she claimed that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows argued that âtracing isnât a valuable thing; âwe shouldnât do it.ââ
She continued:
âAnd I said, âWell thatâs not what most scientists say.â And they said, âWell, weâll bring a scientist to say that.â I said, âWell, make sure itâs not Dr. Birx,â because I donât have confidence in anyone who stands there while the President says, âSwallow Lysol, and itâs going to cure your virus.ââ
âYou know, it will kill you, and you wonât have the virus anymore,â she added.
CNNâs Jim Sciutto interjected to ask, âSo youâre saying she hasnât challenged the presidentâs disinformation enough?â
âWell, she stood there. I think that she has ⌠that she has enabled,â Pelosi said, adding, âThere has to be some responsibility, so if the presidentâs saying these things, whoâs advising him that this is okay and enabling that to happen?â
Watch the video below:
Pelosiâs comments come after Birx pushed back against the House speakerâs criticism, as IJR reported.
During an appearance on CNNâs âState of the Unionâ on Sunday, Birx said, âI have never been called pollyannish, or nonscientific, or non-data driven.â
âAnd I will stake my 40-year career on those fundamental principles of utilizing data to really implement better programs to save more lives,â she added.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter to criticize Birx for responding to Pelosi, as IJR also reported.Â
âSo Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines Therapeutics,â Trump said.
He added, âIn order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait hit us. Pathetic!â
