'Cowardice of a leader': CDC official hits Trump and RFK with blistering rebuke on way out

A top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced his resignation in a lengthy social media post in which he delivered a blistering rebuke of the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for undermining science and endangering public health.

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, announced on X his resignation effective end of day Thursday. His announcement came amid an exodus of top scientists from the CDC following the ouster of its director, Susan Monarez.

"This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission," he wrote. "However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough."

Daskalakis said his exit was necessary to ensure he could align his ethics and knowledge of infectious disease and immunology with his principles and obligation to Americans.

Daskalakis added that he could no longer serve in “an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.”

He pointed specifically to the Trump administration's recent overhaul of immunization schedules for children and adults as a decision that "threaten[s] the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people.”

Daskalakis expressed alarm over the administration's scientific integrity and accused HHS of sidelining CDC experts and manipulating data for political ends.

“Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people,” he wrote.

He also denounced the administration’s changes to COVID-19 vaccine policy, saying the new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices structure “puts people of dubious intent and more dubious scientific rigor in charge of recommending vaccine policy to a director hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader.

"Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc,” he added.

Daskalakis took a shot at RFK, writing, "I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information."

He then took a shot at Trump, declaring his resignation was aimed at making his grandfather proud, who died fighting fascism.

"I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur," wrote Daskalakis, referring to the shooting near the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta. "I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed."