Dr. Rick Bright made his first public appearance since leaving the Trump administration over disagreements about the way they have handled the coronavirus outbreak. Bright told CNN’s Jake Tapper that government scientists are very seriously concerned that rump will “rewrite science” or “come up with fake science” to justify their politics.
The doctor then claimed that he was “horrified” that he would get a call from the White House saying that they needed to find a way to inject disinfectant into people. “That wasn’t a joke,” Dr. Bright told Tapper, dispelling the claim from Trump that his comment was a joke.
“There are so many career scientists in our government health care system,” Dr. Bright continued. “These are the best scientists in the world. I would put the expertise and experience and the judgment, the scientists we have, the CDC, the FDA, NIH and BARTA, all throughout our government up next to or against anyone in the planet, and our scientists are going to shine. They are concerned about this White House and this administration overruling the best scientific judgment. They are concerned about the political pressure that has been put on them to change a course of behavior, a course of action, or to rewrite science, or come up with some fake science and then put it forward as the truth. So, they’re very frustrated.”
He went on to say that he hears from his colleagues that the scientists are “frustrated”
“They’re concerned that the truth isn’t getting out,” he explained. “They’re concerned that the best guidance and practices aren’t being heard, and they’re concerned about the lack of leadership, leading by example, encouraging people to follow those guidelines. So, their frustration is because by blocking this information, by holding back their best evidence, and their best guidance, then it’s leading to more infections. It’s leading to more hospitalizations. We have 30,000 people in our country right now in the hospital from COVID-19. More people are going to die because scientists are being pushed back. Scientists are not being heard. And I am trying to speak up and encourage others like me, in our medical field and our scientific field to speak up because Americans need to know the truth. The world needs to know the truth. If we continue to hide the truth, then we’re going to see many more deaths that don’t need to occur.”
He then revealed that the White House tried to block him from working on preparing for the pandemic back in January.
He said he wanted to buy PPE, swabs, and other things that were all ignored when they attempted to push back against him. When he finally spoke out about the situation in the White House, they demoted him.
Take a look at his remarks below:
