Dr. Birx finally shares her real take on working in the Trump administration
Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Deborah Birx faced intense pressure and scrutiny from both President Donald Trump and the scientific community. Now, she is revealing how she mulled over dealing with the pressures of her job. According to The Washington Post, the infectious disease expert has admitted that she "always" considered leaving her post.
A clip of Birx's recent appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation" has been released and during the segment, she told Margaret Brennan, "I mean, why would you want to put yourself through that every day?"
Birx, who was also publicly lambasted and deemed "pathetic" by the disgraced former president on Twitter, admitted that the Trump administration's polarization and politicization of the coronavirus are largely responsible for the hundreds of thousands of COVID-related deaths in the United States.
The former White House official went on to detail the daily personal battle she faced each day while working under the Trump administration.
"Colleagues of mine that I'd known for decades — decades — in that one experience, because I was in the White House, decided that I had become this political person, even though they had known me forever," Birx said. "I had to ask myself every morning, 'Is there something that I think I can do that would be helpful in responding to this pandemic?' And it's something I asked myself every night."
WATCH: @margbrennan: "Did you ever consider quitting?" Birx: "Always...I had to ask myself every morning: is there… https://t.co/9XTLOXMz8T— Face The Nation (@Face The Nation) 1611354649
Birx also admitted what many have speculated: she had been censored by Trump's White House but insists she refrained from intentionally withholding pertinent information about the pandemic. Her latest interview comes after her months-long battle working with the Trump administration.
While she admitted that the job was always challenging and she had "mounting concerns" about the administration's handling of the pandemic, Birx noted that it grew particularly worse the closer it got to the presidential election. Around that time, Birx released detailed communications, obtained by The Washington Post, warning of the dangers the United States could face during the winter months if proper measures were not taken to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
"When it became a point where I wasn't getting anywhere — and that was like right before the election — I wrote a very detailed communication plan of what needed to happen the day after the election and how that needed to be executed," she said. "And there was a lot of promise that that would happen."
As of Saturday, Jan. 23, the United States has reported more than 25.3 million coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The nation's death toll is now over 424,000.
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