By — Hannah Grabenstein Hannah Grabenstein Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-former-trump-covid-19-coordinator-dr-deborah-birx-appears-before-house-committee Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH: Former Trump COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx appears before House committee Politics Updated on Jun 23, 2022 7:22 PM EDT — Published on Jun 23, 2022 10:05 AM EDT Former COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx appeared before a Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Thursday morning to testify on former President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic. Watch the full event in the player above. In December, the committee said the Trump administration ignored the advice of medical advisors, including Birx and and Dr. Jay Butler, a senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official. Since Birx left the administration, she’s spoken out about what she felt were mistakes made in the COVID response. Last October, the committee released a transcribed interview with Birx where she discussed how Trump’s “prioritization of politics, contempt for science, and refusal to follow the advice of public health experts undermined the nation’s ability to respond effectively to the coronavirus crisis.” WATCH: Missouri becomes latest state to use COVID relief to support underfunded schools In her written testimony for Thursday’s hearing, Birx emphasized the need for an integrated database between laboratories, public health institutions and clinics in order to more quickly catch future pandemics. The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million in May, a once-unimaginable figure that only hints at the multitudes of loved ones and friends staggered by grief and frustration. The confirmed number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 336 days. It is roughly equal to how many Americans died in the Civil War and World War II combined. It’s as if Boston and Pittsburgh were wiped out. By — Hannah Grabenstein Hannah Grabenstein @hgrabenstein
Former COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx appeared before a Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Thursday morning to testify on former President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic. Watch the full event in the player above. In December, the committee said the Trump administration ignored the advice of medical advisors, including Birx and and Dr. Jay Butler, a senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official. Since Birx left the administration, she’s spoken out about what she felt were mistakes made in the COVID response. Last October, the committee released a transcribed interview with Birx where she discussed how Trump’s “prioritization of politics, contempt for science, and refusal to follow the advice of public health experts undermined the nation’s ability to respond effectively to the coronavirus crisis.” WATCH: Missouri becomes latest state to use COVID relief to support underfunded schools In her written testimony for Thursday’s hearing, Birx emphasized the need for an integrated database between laboratories, public health institutions and clinics in order to more quickly catch future pandemics. The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million in May, a once-unimaginable figure that only hints at the multitudes of loved ones and friends staggered by grief and frustration. The confirmed number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 336 days. It is roughly equal to how many Americans died in the Civil War and World War II combined. It’s as if Boston and Pittsburgh were wiped out.