© Provided by Washington Examiner The White House Coronavirus Task Force continues to struggle with differing opinions between key figures on how the Trump administration should respond to the pandemic.
Appearing on UnHerd's Lockdown TV on Wednesday, Dr. Scott Atlas suggested that top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci doesn't possess the kind of public policy background necessary to direct the administration's response to the coronavirus.
"He's just one person on the task force," Atlas said. "There's several people on the task force, you know, and his background is virology, immunology, infectious disease. That's his approach. It's a very different background. It's a more limited approach and, you know, I don't speak for him. I don't speak for anybody. I speak for the interpretation of the data, and the subsequent evolution of that data into the best policy advice that I can give the president of the United States."
The comments come the same week that President Trump reportedly called Fauci a "disaster" while downplaying the seriousness of the disease at campaign rallies. Trump claimed "people are tired" of COVID-19 and accused CNN of being "dumb b------s" for covering the pandemic around the clock since the outbreak began.
Atlas has reportedly spoken optimistically about adopting a herd immunity approach to the virus and seems to have recently gained the president's ear as other officials, such as Fauci and the task force's coronavirus response coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, have questioned his approach and sway over Trump.
On Wednesday, Atlas dismissed the notion that he was advocating for herd immunity, a controversial approach to the disease allowing millions of people to catch it in hopes the virus would burn its way through the population. Atlas added that herd immunity is not the position of the White House.
Tags: News, Coronavirus, White House, Anthony Fauci, Health, Public Health, Donald Trump
Original Author: Spencer Neale
Original Location: Scott Atlas downplays Fauci role on coronavirus task force, says he has a 'limited approach'