Ex-Trump Vax Chief Hits Back at CNN Over His Use of ‘Pregnant People’ and Pronouns

Former Trump Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Dr. Demetre Daskalakis hit back at White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on CNN, and proudly defended his use of the term “pregnant people” and preferred pronouns.

Dr. Daskalakis is among a raft of senior officials who resigned in the wake of President Donald Trump’s attempted firing of CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez, and was criticized by Leavitt at Thursday’s White House briefing over his use of inclusive language.

On Tuesday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins interviewed Dr. Daskalakis and two other officials who resigned in protest; Dr. Deb Houry, former CDC Deputy Director and Chief Medical Officer; and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who was Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

Collins played Leavitt’s criticism and asked Dr. Daskalakis to respond:

COLLINS: Dr. Daskalakis, you were specifically referenced today, during the White House press briefing. I’m not sure if you saw this, but I want — I want everyone to listen to what the press secretary had to say today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: One of those individuals wrote in his departure statement that he identifies pregnant women as pregnant people. So that’s not someone who we want in this administration, anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I want to give you the chance to respond to that.

DASKALAKIS: Yes. No — I think that, I — well, first I want to say one thing, in response to something Dan said. So, I think that another — an important thing to ask the Secretary is, has he been ever briefed by a CDC expert on anything, specifically measles, COVID-19, flu? I think that people should ask him that in that hearing. That’s number one. So–

COLLINS: What would the answer to that be?

DASKALAKIS: The answer is no. So no one from my center has ever briefed him on any of those topics. So, I don’t know where he’s getting his–

COLLINS: Really?

DASKALAKIS: Really.

COLLINS: No one has ever briefed him on–

DASKALAKIS: But back to your–

COLLINS: –on any of those issues that you just mentioned there, including measles, given–

DASKALAKIS: He is– COLLINS: –the outbreak in the United States, right now?

DASKALAKIS: He is getting information from somewhere. Yes, he’s getting information from somewhere, but that information is not coming from CDC experts who really are the world’s experts in this area. Like, folks from around the world call us, with questions around these infections, and we are seen as the experts. CDC is seen as the expert in these areas.

We are the — CDC is the preeminent public health organization, I’m going to say, in the world. And he’s not taking us up on several offers, to brief him on these very important topics.

Now, on the issue–

COLLINS: Why do you think that is?

DASKALAKIS: I don’t know the answer. Perhaps he has alternate experts that he may trust more, than the experts at CDC that the rest of the world regards as the best scientists in the areas.

COLLINS: Wow.

DASKALAKIS: But back to the question. I mean, I had, for my entire career, been an advocate for the LGBTQ community, through my work in HIV, through my work in Mpox. I find it outrageous that this — that this administration is trying to erase transgender people.

I very specifically used the term, pregnant people, and very specifically added my pronouns at the end of my resignation letter, to make the point that I am defying this terrible strategy, trying to erase people, and not allowing them to express their identities.

So, I accept the note from the press secretary, and counter that with, I don’t care.

Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.