Deborah Birx speaks last April in the Oval Office as then-President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting attended by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican and Trump ally.
mandel ngan/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Former White House coronavirus coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx is joining the George W. Bush Institute as a senior fellow.
Birx, who was tapped by former Vice President Mike Pence to manage the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic, clashed with President Donald Trump and other officials who moved to set aside science and promote “reopening” the country.
Birx, who initially was interested in a job in the Biden administration, faced criticism for not speaking out against the former president’s misguided statements and positions.
The former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Birx had previously overseen the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and led the government’s engagement with international partners on addressing other communicable diseases.
Key Words (January 2021): Birx says Trump was fed misleading ‘parallel data’ about coronavirus
Birx was also in the news this week for having stated that the press conference at which then-President Donald Trump wondered aloud whether disinfectant or bright light could be brought to bear inside the bodies of people suffering from the coronavirus-borne disease had made her uncomfortable.
Birx will work in the area of public health at the Bush research institute, as well as policy efforts to study “how to better position our country to tackle health disparities in the future based off the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
MarketWatch contributed.
The Margin (August 2020): Who is Deborah Birx — the doctor that both Trump and Pelosi are now suddenly criticizing?
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