Trump lied about firing COVID response official who said he 'failed to communicate seriousness' of the virus
Former President Donald Trump fabricated one major detail in a social media rant about his time working with former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx, Huffpost reports.
Trump used his Truth Social platform to criticize the former high ranking health official, while throwing in one backhanded compliment.
“One of the greatest privileges I had as President was firing Deborah Birx,” the former president wrote. “The only thing she had going was nice scarves.”
Birx, who has publicly said the Trump administration “underplayed the seriousness of the pandemic,” actually retired from her position at the end of 2020 following a Thanksgiving trip amid a “difficult” time for her family.
In his social media post, Trump also wrote, “I remember so well when she was lecturing the American people not to leave their homes for Thanksgiving, and then she traveled hundreds of miles to visit her family who, incredibly, turned her in to the police. The only one who thought highly of her was herself!”
Additionally, he included a link to far-right blog RedState’s article alleging Birx “openly lied to the American people” about the COVID-19 vaccine.
The retired infectious disease expert revealed last year that the Trump administration “gave Americans a false sense of security” by comparing COVID to the flu, and “pressured her to alter the COVID statistics she submitted to the states at the height of the COVID pandemic.”
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