“The rift between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has spilled out into the open as one of the nation’s top public health agencies finds itself on the margins of the response to a once-in-a-generation pandemic.”
“In an administration often beset by infighting, the CDC has been a consistent target of criticism from White House officials privately frustrated by its initial handling of testing and its inability to provide granular, up-to-date data to guide the country’s response.”
“White House trade adviser Peter Navarro took the fight public on Sunday, saying the CDC had ‘let the country down’ with its early testing woes. The comments were the sharpest public criticism of the agency to date from a member of the administration.”
“President Trump and other officials on Monday sought to tamp down the appearance of any discord between the CDC and the rest of the administration. Some defended the CDC’s involvement in the pandemic response and portrayed Navarro’s comments as either out of line or out of context.”
“Trump praised the CDC for its work before deferring to Vice President Pence, who told reporters that he believed Navarro was specifically criticizing the ‘arcane testing system’ that existed in the early stages of the pandemic. Pence noted the private sector has since gotten involved and the country has significantly increased its testing capacity, recently surpassing 11 million total tests performed…”
“But former administration officials and public health experts say the damage has already been done to the CDC’s credibility. They also said a series of missteps early in the pandemic that included the testing problems and the declining visibility of the agency as a leading voice in the response have undercut the CDC…” Read the full article here.
Source: White House, CDC rift spills into the open – By Brett Samuels, May 19, 2020. The Hill.
