- Oct 17, 2011
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Trump and his Administration's attack on facts and fact-based public health policies have hurt the CDC's reputation and morale. And the nation's health.
There have been politically altered CDC reports.
Public information on COVID-19 disappearing from the CDC website.
Altered CDC health advice on COVID-19 testing.
Roadblocks put up in front of CDC leaders reporting to Congress.
Trump personally questioning CDC information, and calling for changes to be made.
And we have one of the worst fatality rates of COVID-19 to show for it.
The situation is taking a toll on CDC staff.
In interviews with half a dozen current and former CDC officials, they described a workforce that has seen its expertise questioned, its findings overturned for political purposes and its effectiveness in combating the pandemic undermined by partisan actors in Washington.
"I have never seen morale this low. It's just, people are beaten down. People are beaten down partially by a public who not only distrusts us but who actually think we want to infringe on their civil liberties," said one current CDC employee. "The other factor is the active undermining by senior members of our own administration."
They expressed frustration that the CDC, long an independent voice of dispassionate science, has bent to the whims of an administration that does not acknowledge the severity of a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people in the U.S.
"As I talk to former colleagues at CDC, the feeling I get is just an overwhelming sense of despair. People are working incredibly hard to reduce the impact of the pandemic and the sense that they're being blocked by people at the political level, and that the work that they're doing is not being appreciated by the American public," said Rich Besser, a former CDC director who now runs the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
"The feeling right now is that public health is not being allowed to lead and to demonstrate the path forward to reduce transmission and increase economic activity," he said.
"It's horrifying. I don't know of any other situation like this, when things have been dictated to be put on the CDC website that aren't defensible science. The idea that you shouldn't test contacts is just indefensible," said Tom Frieden, who led the CDC during the Obama administration.
"It's incredibly sad to all of us that the recent guidance is causing a loss of trust for CDC in general. I'm very nervous about what is going to happen when a vaccine is available, especially if the phase three trials are cut short for political reasons," said a current CDC employee. "Public health messaging is so important and it's been disregarded since the early days of the pandemic."
There have been politically altered CDC reports.
Public information on COVID-19 disappearing from the CDC website.
Altered CDC health advice on COVID-19 testing.
Roadblocks put up in front of CDC leaders reporting to Congress.
Trump personally questioning CDC information, and calling for changes to be made.
And we have one of the worst fatality rates of COVID-19 to show for it.
The situation is taking a toll on CDC staff.
In interviews with half a dozen current and former CDC officials, they described a workforce that has seen its expertise questioned, its findings overturned for political purposes and its effectiveness in combating the pandemic undermined by partisan actors in Washington.
"I have never seen morale this low. It's just, people are beaten down. People are beaten down partially by a public who not only distrusts us but who actually think we want to infringe on their civil liberties," said one current CDC employee. "The other factor is the active undermining by senior members of our own administration."
They expressed frustration that the CDC, long an independent voice of dispassionate science, has bent to the whims of an administration that does not acknowledge the severity of a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people in the U.S.
"As I talk to former colleagues at CDC, the feeling I get is just an overwhelming sense of despair. People are working incredibly hard to reduce the impact of the pandemic and the sense that they're being blocked by people at the political level, and that the work that they're doing is not being appreciated by the American public," said Rich Besser, a former CDC director who now runs the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
"The feeling right now is that public health is not being allowed to lead and to demonstrate the path forward to reduce transmission and increase economic activity," he said.
"It's horrifying. I don't know of any other situation like this, when things have been dictated to be put on the CDC website that aren't defensible science. The idea that you shouldn't test contacts is just indefensible," said Tom Frieden, who led the CDC during the Obama administration.
"It's incredibly sad to all of us that the recent guidance is causing a loss of trust for CDC in general. I'm very nervous about what is going to happen when a vaccine is available, especially if the phase three trials are cut short for political reasons," said a current CDC employee. "Public health messaging is so important and it's been disregarded since the early days of the pandemic."
