The newly confirmed Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now on the spot after President Donald Trump dropped a bombshell on Monday.
On MS NOW, Dr. Irwin Redlener of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness claimed that the president’s directive to alter childhood vaccine schedules over "bogus" autism concerns is going to put Dr. Erica Schwartzin an awkward position.
Schwartz passed through her Senate confirmation last week with the support of Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who stated, “We need a CDC director that will actually stand up to crazy, stupid things being said that undermine faith in immunization.”
According to Redlener, that will be put to the test after the Monday Trump vaccine proclamation.
“Well, the entire press conference really disturbed me, and I think a lot of my colleagues are in the same boat,” he told host Antonia Hylton. “Here's what we're worried about: We're in the middle of the biggest measles outbreak in 35 years and they make a series of announcements from the White House, from the Oval Office that will actually exacerbate this outbreak.”
“Tell me, what does this mean for the new CDC director?” Hylton pressed her guest. “How could she let this unfold on her watch?”
“Watching this, I'm cringing on her behalf,” he replied. “Why? She was appointed six days ago — she was affirmed. She's a legitimate scientist and a public health expert and now she's listening to absolute nonsense coming out of the White House about vaccines.”
“I think she's going to be facing three choices, like right now,” he predicted. “One, she could hear what she heard last night and just say, I'm resigning. Two: She could disagree and get fired by, you know, RFK Jr. for disagreeing with him about these new policies. Or three, she could just hang in there and accept things that she knows not to be true.”
“We're going to see where she stands on all this, but I don't relish her position,” he added.