White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx announced Tuesday she plans to retire after it was revealed Sunday she defied her own COVID travel guidelines over Thanksgiving.
Like numerous government officials, Birx insisted that American families not travel and limit Thanksgiving celebrations to “your immediate household.” However, the day after Thanksgiving, she was caught traveling with multigenerational family members out of state to one of her vacation properties on Fenwick Island in Delaware. Birx told the Associated Press everyone on the Delaware trip was part of her “immediate household,” even though those involved live in two different houses.
Birx had been seeking a position in a potential Biden administration but, after receiving harsh criticism from the American people and her colleagues, she decided to resign instead, saying the experience has been “overwhelming” for her family over the last couple of days.
I have a lot to say about these people who want to tell me how to live, who I can see, where I can go. #ByeFelicia
I don't take anything they say seriously! #DeborahBirx #COVID19 https://t.co/atxffLP3yF
— The Girliedrummer (@girlieDrummerK) December 21, 2020
“I will have to say, as a civil servant, I will be helpful through a period of time, and then I will have to say, this experience has been a bit overwhelming. It has been very difficult on my family…I think what was done over the last week to my family,” she said.
In an interview with Newsy, Birx said she wants to help the Biden administration transition into office but she then plans to retire. “I want the Biden administration to be successful,” Birx said. “I will be helpful in any role that people think I can be helpful in and then I will retire.”
EXCLUSIVE: Dr. Deborah Birx tells @newsy that she is willing to help with the #Biden transition but ultimately plans to retire, citing her family's treatment over the past week. pic.twitter.com/yEPy9s0Tf9
— Amber Strong TV (@AmberCStrong) December 22, 2020
The Associated Press was informed of Birx’s Delaware trip by Kathleen Flynn, whose brother is married to Birx’s daughter. Flynn was worried that her parents were at risk because Birx “cavalierly violated her own guidance.”
Throughout the pandemic, national leaders, mostly Democratic politicians and health officials, have frequently violated their own COVID policies. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have all been caught going against their own rules and guidelines.
So has Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been caught in public without a mask when the cameras are off. Fauci, however, has been selected by Joe Biden as his chief medical adviser. Fauci has repeatedly given guidance on coronavirus that conflicts with the preponderance of available scientific evidence.
