Congressman calls to dismantle COVID-19 task force: Fauci opines on issues he has no data to support
Congressman Andy Biggs explains why he thinks it's time to dismantle the coronavirus task force and why Dr. Fauci's 'time has come and gone'
Relying solely on the expertise of White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci is a "problem," Arizona Republican Congressman Andy Biggs said Wednesday.
In an interview on "America's Newsroom" with host Sandra Smith, Biggs argued that Fauci had been inconsistent and contradictory in instructing and advising the American people since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the nation.
"He’s become the face of that task force, and he opines on things that he has no evidence or data for. He’s been inconsistent," said Biggs.
Biggs pointed to interviews in January in which Fauci had said the virus was "not something that the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about" and that it was "a very, very low risk to the United States." However, Fauci also told reporters coronavirus was something public health officials needed to "take very seriously" and keep open eyes and ears ahead of an initial response. At that point, the virus was still China-centric.
Biggs also highlighted the debate surrounding masks. At the beginning of the disease's emergence in the United States, there was conflicting messaging about whether or not healthy Americans should wear them and medical supplies and equipment were sparse. However, over time as scientists and researchers have learned more about how the virus is transmitted, mask-wearing became critical in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
A new report from The New York Times – following a letter from 239 scientists in 32 countries to the World Health Organization – confirms what many feared: smaller airborne respiratory droplets can infect people just as much as larger particles.
"Now he is saying, ‘Let's wear a mask all of the time.’ [That's] an example of something that he is opining on, that has no data or science behind it. And, he says, ‘Look, we’re not going to be playing baseball in three or four months.’ He has no data to support that. He’s just throwing something out there," said Biggs.
According to Biggs, even further evidence Fauci's "time has come and gone" is found in the way he is examining the country's current predicament. On Tuesday, Fauci warned that it was a "false narrative to take comfort in a lower rate of death" because there are still "so many other things that are dangerous about this virus."
President Trump has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. has the lowest mortality rate in the world. On Saturday, he announced that 99 percent of coronavirus cases are "harmless."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases speaks in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, March, 10, 2020, about the coronavirus outbreak as Vice President Mike Pence, White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow, Coast Guard Vice Adm. Daniel Abel, and Dr. Deborah Birx, listen. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center has recorded the deaths of now over 131,000 Americans. This week, confirmed cases broke the 3 million mark.
Amid reopening phases, many Southern and Western states – including Biggs' Arizona – have seen a resurgence in cases and hospitalizations over the past couple of weeks.
"What he’s talking about is other issues and what he specifically said in the early part of that statement yesterday was that he is looking solely at the number of new cases detected. That's what he is relying on. And, when you begin to look at that, is that really the number?" Biggs asked Smith. "Fauci has also said that he doesn't care and hasn't looked at what…the other medical or public health issues going on [are] or the economic issues going on. I think that is irresponsible."
Smith then asked Biggs how he would respond to claims from local media members who've alleged he wanted to eliminate the task force because they were making the president and the administration "look bad."
He denied that was the reason he wanted to give Fauci and Birx the axe.
"When I say that they make Trump look bad — I'm not talking about making Trump look bad, I’m saying they engender hysteria and panic instead of taking these numbers," said Biggs, referring to case numbers and hospitalizations he said were falling in Arizona. "And, we can’t do it because we have a short window here."
On Tuesday, Arizona's Department of Health Services reported a record 117 new coronavirus deaths, 3,356 total hospitalizations, and 869 ICU beds in use.
Biggs said that in examing where cases are coming from and their age brackets, his state's hospitalizations, and case fatalities were "down over 100 percent over the last 30 days." He said that part of the problem with Fauci and Birx is that they're looking at coronavirus with a "broad swath" and not focusing on "granular data."
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"I'm not discounting the advice of medical doctors," Biggs said.
"But, you have to realize that Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx they’re looking at it from a general point of view and I’m talking to doctors who are in this state dealing with this issue on a regular basis," he concluded.
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