Trump officials interfered with CDC reports on Covid-19

[steve2470]

Source: Politico

The health department’s politically appointed communications aides have demanded the right to review and seek changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly scientific reports charting the progress of the coronavirus pandemic, in what officials characterized as an attempt to intimidate the reports’ authors and water down their communications to health professionals.

In some cases, emails from communications aides to CDC Director Robert Redfield and other senior officials openly complained that the agency’s reports would undermine President Donald Trump's optimistic messages about the outbreak, according to emails reviewed by POLITICO and three people familiar with the situation.

CDC officials have fought back against the most sweeping changes, but have increasingly agreed to allow the political officials to review the reports and, in a few cases, compromised on the wording, according to three people familiar with the exchanges. The communications aides’ efforts to change the language in the CDC’s reports have been constant across the summer and continued as recently as Friday afternoon.


The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports are authored by career scientists and serve as the main vehicle for the agency to inform doctors, researchers and the general public about how Covid-19 is spreading and who is at risk. Such reports have historically been published with little fanfare and no political interference, said several longtime health department officials, and have been viewed as a cornerstone of the nation's public health work for decades.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/11/exclusive-trump-officials-interfered-with-cdc-reports-on-covid-19-412809

[sakabatou]

1. *headdesk*

[PatSeg]

2. Shit

These people are unbelievable.

[JoeOtterbein]

3. I still do not understand why so many people hate...

...Politico so much.

They tell us important stuff. Regardless of what we want to hear.

[steve2470]

4. they *used* to be owned by a right-leaning bunch

No clue who owns it now.

[JoeOtterbein]

6. They were founded by RWNJs, but they still report stuff we need to know.

My own answer, depresses me because we should be able to know by now.

[steve2470]

7. oh I agree, they do have good stories that we need to know about

I was just offering a quick explanation of why some here dislike them.

[JoeOtterbein]

8. Thanks!

My daughter works for them now. It's hard for me to understand sometimes.

[soothsayer]

5. Caputo is a Russian tool and Redfield is an evangelical like birx

Not that there’s anything wrong with being an evangelical, unless you think drumpf is the chosen one.

But Caputo — he’s a Russian asset.

The US health department's new communications chief is a Trump loyalist and Roger Stone associate who spread conspiracies about Ukraine and Hunter Biden

https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-caputo-hhs-trump-loyalist-ukraine-roger-stone-2020-4

[barbtries]

9. the CDC has gone to trump.

i don't think it's permanent however, as long as he loses.

[Freethinker65]

10. When the Trump WH started messing with the CDC I was afraid of this

The MMWR is really important. Raw data and science.

To fuck with it is beyond evil and in this case was most likely deadly. I am so angry.

Manipulating scientific data is so dangerous. Trump taking a Sharpie to an Official NOAA probable tropical storm map was treated as a joke. It should have been taken more seriously that Trump is willing to manipulate data for any reason at all. Trump has never stopped. He is destroying trust in every department.
Housing with Carson, the EPA, the Fed, DeVos, the CDC, etc all corrupt. No one will trust any vaccine this administration promotes. So much damage in 3 1/2 years.

[TeamPooka]

11. GOP to Americans: Die faster!

[Chemisse]

12. Luckily Dr Fauci is unwavering.

As he was quoted saying recently on MSNBC, “Anybody that tries to tell me what to say publicly, if they know anything about me, realizes that’s a fool’s errand,” Fauci said. “No one is ever going to pressure me or muzzle me to say anything publicly.”

[oasis]

13. Can't wait to see these criminals get their due. nt

[Botany]

15. Negligent homicide

"Negligent homicide is a criminal charge brought against a person who, through criminal negligence, allows another person to die."


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negligent_homicide

[FelineOverlord]

14. Kremlin Stooge Caputo is a real piece of work

Link to tweet

[riversedge]

16. still doing it as of Friday afternoon..........

.....................CDC officials have fought back against the most sweeping changes, but have increasingly agreed to allow the political officials to review the reports and, in a few cases, compromised on the wording, according to three people familiar with the exchanges. The communications aides’ efforts to change the language in the CDC’s reports have been constant across the summer and continued as recently as Friday afternoon...................................


https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/11/exclusive-trump-officials-interfered-with-cdc-reports-on-covid-19-412809

Link to tweet

?s=20

[benfranklin1776]

17. These bastards need charged with murder 🤬

This is depraved indifference to human life of the most vile kind. The dead and suffering need justice.

[Marcuse]

18. Don't turn around. The Commissar's in town.