Dr. Deborah Birks on battling pandemic from tired Trump White House: 'I'm used to fighting'

The longtime health worker talks to news about the pandemic, his time in the White House and why he doesn't talk more... When Dr. When Trump first offered Deborah Birks the White House position, she declined several times before finally accepting the role of White House Coronavirus Task Force Response Coordinator.

He was stalked for weeks by his girlfriend Matthew Pottinger, a member of the task force and President Donald Trump's Deputy National Security Adviser, before finally agreeing with trepidation.

I follow the data all the time. So I think this will happen to me: people will say bad things about you," Birks, 66, told news about hiring in early March 2020 as the coronavirus quietly spreads throughout the United States and other countries. . World.

"If you say something positive about Trump, you will be killed even if it's true right now. And if you say something negative, you will be destroyed.

But longtime public health officials, who have served with several US presidents and global AIDS coordinator, still sign on to one goal, he says: saving lives.

It wasn't long before the political left and right came under heavy criticism, as Birks had hoped. During Birk's time on the task force, he was criticized for praising the President in the early days for his ability to process data around COVID-19 and not doing more after Trump wrongly (and dangerously) had offered a shot of disinfectant to treat the disease. He was also the target of fear and anger as the death toll across the country reached staggering levels.

Although Birks kept her position until the Biden administration took over the White House in January 2021, she said she was a scapegoat in many ways - and as the only woman on the men's team, she was treated differently. "I think they need someone on the right and left to be in charge of the response [to the pandemic]," he said. "But the answer is still off track."