Ex-Surgeon General Adams Defends His and Birx Not Resigning: ‘Why is the Woman’s (or Black Man’s) Perspective Dismissed?’

Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams groaned over “different standards” as he defended Dr. Deborah Birx over her decision to stay with the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force.

Birx resigned from the coronavirus task force last week after serving as one of its most visible faces when Donald Trump was president. Now that the former president is out of office, Birx seems to be rehabilitating her public image somewhat by addressing the criticisms she faced working with Trump as she did.

In an interview with CBS’ Margaret Brennan, Birx said she “always” thought about quitting the task force and that she was constantly asked herself questions about what could she do. At the same time, Trump operated off of different Covid data from her own. By contrast, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he “never” considered resigning because “I felt that if I stepped down, that would leave a void. Someone’s got to not be afraid to speak out the truth.”

While the two health officials worked off of different logic, the result is that they both stuck to the White House’s task force. As such, Adams got on Twitter to push back on those who would praise Fauci while judging Birx and himself for the decisions they made.

Birx & Fauci are both great people who’ve expressed feeling conflicted. We all decided being at the table was better than having key issues go unheard. Why is the woman’s (or black man’s) perspective dismissed? All had a choice, & stayed. Dr. Birx fought hard & saved lives. People so freely suggest they would have left, but hold the one woman in the room to a different standard. If Dr. Birx or I weren’t there, many medical/ public health conversations would’ve had no input whatsoever from a woman, or a person or color. That’s a heavy cross to bear.

People so freely suggest they would have left, but hold the one woman in the room to a different standard. If Dr. Birx or I weren’t there, many medical/ public health conversations would’ve had no input whatsoever from a woman, or a person or color. That’s a heavy cross to bear.

— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) January 25, 2021