MSNBC's Joe Scarborough ripped for falsely claiming 'no doctors' were at White House presser, urges networks to cut away
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MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was slammed on social media for falsely claiming that "no doctors" were present at Monday's White House press briefing on the coronavirus outbreak.
Scarborough was among many media personalities on Twitter who quickly noticed that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a prominent figure in the White House's coronavirus task force, was missing from the briefing. The liberal TV personality quickly concluded that the briefing wasn't necessary.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There is no public benefit to this briefing. The networks should all cut away," Scarborough tweeted. "Bland pronouncements, the repeating of catch phrases daily, bad medical advice. No science, no doctors, no Fauci. Just Trump’s Roy Cohn."
While he suggested the presence of Attorney General William Barr by referring to him as "Trump's Roy Cohn," the "Morning Joe" co-host apparently overlooked Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House response coordinator who also spoke at the presser.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Others fact-checked the MSNBC host on social media.
"Dr Birx is right next to him," National Republican Senatorial Committee senior adviser Matt Whitlock told Scarborough.
"Are you dumb or just a liar?" The Daily Wire reporter Ryan Saavedra reacted. "Dr. Deborah Birx spoke and the press conference is not over."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr listens as Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Briefing Room, Monday, March 23, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
"Dr. Deborah Brix [sic] — the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force — is standing directly behind him and has spoken multiple times. What even is this tweet?" Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy asked.
Scarborough never issued a correction, but latter slammed the presser, "There is nothing in this briefing that cannot be summed up in three minutes at the end of the press conference. Nothing."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Author Stephen King made a similar error earlier this month after claiming that Trump's coronavirus team was "all male, all old, and all white."
However, in addition to Birx, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Seema Verma, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson are also prominent members of Trump's response team.