This morning Trump is hitting Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the Coronavirus Task Force, for ‘taking the bait’ and criticizing the administration after being attacked by Nancy Pelosi:
So 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. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us.
So 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. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2020
On Friday it was reported that Pelosi attacked Birx behind closed doors:
“– PELOSI SAID to Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN and White House chief of staff MARK MEADOWS: “Deborah Birx is the worst. Wow, what horrible hands you’re in.” She accused BIRX of spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, while praising ANTHONY FAUCI, who she said “came to his senses, and is now a hero.”
Birx defended herself over the weekend, but also made news suggesting that schools should remain closed in areas that are hardest hit by the coronavirus:
.@DanaBashCNN presses Dr. Deborah Birx on school reopenings.
“If you have high case load and active community spread … we’re asking people to distance learn at this moment so we can get this epidemic under control,” Dr. Birx says. #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/EgJwa8JjhY
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 2, 2020
Dr Birx – WH coronavirus response coordinator – told me she agreed with CDC that school districts with 5 percent or higher infection rate should stay closed.. despite push from POTUS and DeVos. Watch below https://t.co/2ND5wydZgh
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) August 2, 2020
She also the spread of the virus is worse than earlier this year, saying “It is extraordinarily widespread.” The media is already pitting what Birx said against what Trump said on Friday:
Dr. Birx today @CNN "What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread." Pres Trump on Friday: "We'll beat it & it'll be soon..We want to get our schools open..our businesses open. Much of the country is open..we're doing really well.."
— Judy Woodruff (@JudyWoodruff) August 2, 2020
Trump doesn’t get specific, but I think this must be what he is referring to in his tweet above suggesting she took the bait and ‘hit’ the administration.
A couple of hours before his tweet on Pelosi and Birx, Trump defended his administration, saying that despite New York and ‘a few other locations’, the US is doing “MUCH better than most other countries in dealing with the China Virus”:
With the exception of New York & a few other locations, we’ve done MUCH better than most other Countries in dealing with the China Virus. Many of these countries are now having a major second wave. The Fake News is working overtime to make the USA (& me) look as bad as possible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2020