Media narrative that Trump put dog breeder in charge of coronavirus response dismantled

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The mainstream media painted Department of Health and Human Services chief of staff Brian Harrison as an inexperienced dog breeder who was tasked with leading the coronavirus task force, but Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau Chief Todd J. Gillman dismantled the storyline with a piece examining the situation.

“No, the Trump administration did not put a professional dog breeder from Dallas in charge of COVID-19 response,” Gillman wrote. “Yes, the chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services briefly owned a family business raising Labradoodles. But he’s also served three administrations in high level posts at HHS, the White House and the Pentagon.”

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Gillman wrote that colleagues who have worked in government were “appalled to see him disparaged Thursday as a mere ‘dog breeder,’ as if Joe Exotic had catapulted from tiger king to head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Health and Human Services chief of staff Brian Harrison. (REUTERS)

Some of the headlines that presumably irked Harrison’s included MSNBC asking, “Why would a former dog breeder help oversee a pandemic response?”

Reuters labeled its story a “special report” and was picked up by The New York Times headlined, “Former Labradoodle breeder was tapped to lead U.S. pandemic task force.”

Vanity Fair went with, “Not a Joke: The Trump Admin Hired a Dog Breeder to Run Its Coronavirus Task Force,” while New York magazine ‘s headline stated, “Top Coronavirus Aide’s Last Job Was Breeding Dogs: Report.”

Mediaite cited Reuters, “HHS Sec Azar Reportedly Tapped Former Labradoodle Breeder to Lead Agency's Coronavirus Task Force.”

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The headlines also resulted in a ton of social media posts mocking Harrison. But The Dallas Morning News spoke with multiple associates of Harrison, who all seemed to agree that mainstream media painting him as a simple dog breeder put in charge of COVID-19 were wildly misleading.

“By all accounts of those who’ve worked with him, Harrison is a serious public servant with deep experience. And he was never in charge of pandemic containment strategy,” Gillman wrote. “He was, rather, assigned a typical role for a cabinet secretary’s chief of staff, serving as aide de camp on a task force run by the boss himself — until Trump stripped that job from Azar and assigned the responsibility to Vice President Mike Pence.”

The mainstream media not only exaggerated Harrison’s role with the coronavirus task force, but also downplayed his government experience.

Harrison has previously worked for the Social Security Administration, the Office of former Vice President Dick Cheney, served as Deputy Secretary at HHS during the George W. Bush Administration and worked for the Department of Defense.

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“He has worked as a director at an independent public affairs firm, helping oversee their healthcare portfolio, and, prior to returning to government, ran a small business in Texas,” the HHS website states.

The Dallas Morning News indicated that the “small business” mentioned in his bio was dog breeding, which was a hobby that briefly turned into a business when significant family health issues forced Harrison to relocate to Texas.

“Harrison and his wife sold the business two years ago when he returned to government as deputy chief of staff to Azar,” Gillman wrote.