What we suspected was true: Trump forced the CDC to paint a rosy picture of COVID-19

I remember it clearly and also try to put it out of my mind: Former President Donald Trump’s nightly news briefs with heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presenting a fake narrative about COVID-19 being handled while we all knew it was spreading like wildfire. Turns out our fears were valid. A new report shows that Trump was controlling the CDC’s response to the pandemic.

“After a February 25, 2020, CDC telebriefing ‘angered’ President Trump, the White House wrested control of coronavirus communications away from CDC and mandated on February 26 that all media requests related to the pandemic be approved by the Office of the Vice President prior to release,” the newly released report reads.

Adding, “Trump Administration officials blocked CDC from conducting telebriefings on critical, emerging public health issues for three months and restricted scientists from participating in interviews—at a time that coincided with a rapid explosion in coronavirus cases.”

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