Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, is retiring. The announcement comes after Dr. Birx received backlash for traveling to Delaware during Thanksgiving. Although Dr. Birx is going to retire, she plans on helping President-elect Joe Biden with his coronavirus response.
“I will be helpful in any role that people think I can be helpful in, and then I will retire,” Dr. Birx told Newsy.
Dr. Birx was heavily criticized for traveling out of state after the Center for Disease Control and Prevention urged people not to travel for the holidays. According to the Associated Press, Dr. Birx acknowledged traveling and said that her 50-hour visit to Delaware was not to celebrate the holidays but to prepare her property for a potential sale.
“I did not go to Delaware for the purpose of celebrating Thanksgiving.” Dr. Birx said.
Dr. Birx maintains that the people she traveled with were part of her immediate household and says that the backlash she has received in her job has been a “bit overwhelming.”
