As coronavirus cases continue to reach unsettling heights, one lawmaker felt that it would be a good idea to dismantle the government’s coronavirus task force.
On Thursday, Rep. Andy Biggs, chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, claimed that the nation’s top public health experts were undermining Donald Trump; therefore, they asked that the White House shut down the task force. Just one day prior, the country reported over 50,000 new coronavirus cases.
In a statement, the Arizona Republican and close ally to Trump said, “As our economy is restored, it is imperative that President Trump is not undermined in his mission to return our economy to greatness.” His statement followed the Labor Department reporting that the U.S. economy had added 4.8 million jobs in June, and the unemployment rate had fallen to 11.1 percent. However, the survey did not account for the latest wave of shutdowns ordered by governors, who are now halting their states’ reopening plans. Last week, Americans filed 1.4 million new unemployment applications, the department reported. Nevertheless, Biggs insists that the U.S. economy “is roaring back as we predicted,” arguing the “pro-growth foundation that President Trump set over the past 3+ years is paying dividends in one of our nation’s most-uncertain times.”
“Dr Fauci and Dr Birx have undermined what this president is trying to do” — @RepAndyBiggsAZ isn’t even trying to hide his desire to suppress politically inconvenient facts pic.twitter.com/iJlUtNkCYB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 2, 2020
Biggs went on to attack Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, saying that the two “continue to contradict many of President Trump’s stated goals and actions for returning to normalcy as we know more about” the highly infectious outbreak.” He added, “This is causing panic that compromises our economic recovery. We can protect our most vulnerable from the COVID-19 outbreak while still protecting the lives and livelihoods of the rest of the population. It’s time for the COVID-19 task force to be disbanded so that President Trump’s message is not mitigated or distorted.”
The White House has not revealed any plans to dismantle the task force.
