White House Press
Secretary Karoline Leavitt struggled to defend President Donald Trump’s
decision to oust Susan Monarez, former head of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
While taking questions
at a White House press briefing Thursday, Leavitt was asked about a statement from
Monarez lawyer Mark Zaid, who alleged she was fired after she “refused to
rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health
experts.”
“What specifically did
she do wrong?” asked one reporter.
“Look, what I will say
about this individual is that her lawyers’ statement made it abundantly clear
themselves that she was not aligned with the president’s mission to make
America healthy again,” Leavitt said. “And the secretary asked her to resign, she
said she would, and then she said she wouldn’t, so the president fired her,
which he has every right to do.”
“It was President Trump
who was overwhelmingly re-elected on November 5. This woman has never received
a vote in her life, and the president has the authority to fire those who are
not aligned with his mission,” Leavitt continued.
But Leavitt was wrong.
Just one month ago, Monarez was confirmed by a Senate vote along party lines,
and was sworn
into office shortly after. If she
wasn’t aligned with Trump’s mission, it’s unclear why that wouldn’t have been
determined in April when he nominated her, or anytime after.
Leavitt said a new
nominee would be announced soon.
Monarez’s firing has
sparked outrage at the CDC. Four agency heads resigned Wednesday, warning that Health Secretary Robert
F. Kennedy Jr. had compromised the agency’s mission with anti-vaccine policies
and other growing misinformation. CDC staff also staged a
walkout Thursday, in response
to the ongoing turmoil.
The post White House’s Argument on Ousted CDC Director Gets More Unbelievable appeared first on New Republic.
