Dec. 1, 2020 |
NBC News – Dr. Scott Atlas, the controversial White House coronavirus adviser, has resigned.
“I am writing to resign from my position as special adviser to the president of the United States,” Atlas said in a resignation letter posted to Twitter late Monday, which is dated Dec. 1 and addressed to President Donald Trump.
Atlas, a neuroradiologist on leave from the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank affiliated with Stanford University, has no background in infectious diseases. He has spread misinformation about the virus, including questioning the efficacy of masks, and urged the White House to embrace a strategy of “herd immunity.”
His stance was at loggerheads with many other members of the coronavirus task force.
“Everything he says is false,” Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was overheard saying about Atlas by an NBC News’ reporter in September.
In a statement reacting to his resignation, his peers at Stanford’s medical school said late Monday that “Dr. Scott Atlas’ resignation today is long overdue and underscores the triumph of science and truth over falsehoods and misinformation.” Read more.
Trump science adviser Scott Atlas leaving White House job
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Scott Atlas, a science adviser to President Donald Trump who was skeptical of measures to control the coronavirus outbreak, is leaving his White House post.
A White House official confirmed that the Stanford University neuroradiologist, who had no formal experience in public health or infectious diseases, resigned at the end of his temporary government assignment. Atlas confirmed the news in a Monday evening tweet.
Atlas joined the White House this summer, where he clashed with top government scientists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, as he resisted stronger efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 267,000 Americans.
Atlas has broken with government experts and the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community to criticize efforts to encourage face covering to slow the spread of the virus. Just weeks ago on Twitter he responded to Michigan’s latest virus restrictions by encouraging people to “rise up” against the state’s policies.
His views also prompted Stanford to issue a statement distancing itself from the faculty member, saying Atlas “has expressed views that are inconsistent with the university’s approach in response to the pandemic.”
“We support using masks, social distancing, and conducting surveillance and diagnostic testing,” the university said Nov. 16. “We also believe in the importance of strictly following the guidance of local and state health authorities.”
Atlas defended his role in his resignation letter, saying, “I cannot think of a time where safeguarding science and the scientific debate is more urgent.”
Atlas was hired as a “special government employee,” which limited his service to government to 130 days in a calendar year — a deadline he reached this week.
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