Neuroradiologist and White House COVID-19 advisor Scott Atlas has taken on a more prominent role in the federal pandemic response, to the dismay of immunologist Anthony Fauci and others.
That’s according to a high-profile report based on interviews with dozens of administration officials, published Monday in the Washington Post. Atlas has reportedly shot down attempts to expand national testing, feuded with Fauci and other infectious disease experts, and continued to push “junk science,” the report noted.
In one recent Oval Office meeting, Atlas allegedly walked behind the Resolute Desk and occupied the president’s space after he had left the room in an apparent display of power. Atlas denied the account of the meeting, according to the Post.
The Fox News contributor and Stanford University Hoover Institution senior fellow has also reportedly pushed “happy talk” that the outbreak is close to over. And he has argued that the country is approaching “herd immunity,” sparking fierce debate with Fauci and others, who have demanded data to back up the assertion. Fauci, White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx, the surgeon general and others have reportedly grown “dispirited” with the state of affairs.
Just this past Saturday, Atlas posted a tweet arguing that masks do not work, which Twitter later removed for violating rules around misinformation, according to the report. Birx reportedly told friends she was relieved following the action, CNN reported Monday.
Read more from the Washington Post below.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.