Alyssa Farah Griffin, the former White House Communications Director for the Trump administration, said that she had tried to stop the infamous “bleach” media briefing and defended Dr. Deborah Birx from criticism related to her time under Trump.
Griffin tweeted in response to liberal critics claiming that Birx had been far too deferential to former President Donald Trump and should have pushed back when he suggested that disinfectant might be injected into people to combat the coronavirus.
“I tried to stop the famous ‘injecting bleach’ press conference in the West Wing before it happened. I was worried the former Prez didnt have time to process the study that was going to be briefed to him & may say something dangerous. I was overruled, & the presser happened,” Griffin claimed.
Griffin explained that Birx was a military doctor and a former LT. Colonel in the Army, and as such, she worked in the chain of command without the job protections that other members of the coronavirus task force had.
“She knew one misstep in the eyes of the former President, & she’d could be out,” Griffin continued. “To work in the Trump WH is to walk a tight rope of doing what needs to get done, while also trying not to get fired.”
Birx was hammered by criticism on the right for being supportive of the pandemic lockdown measures, but she was also heavily criticized on the left for not standing up to the former president as they had hoped she would.
“In private meetings, more than I can count, Dr. Birx gracefully & respectfully pushed back on the former President when it was needed more than any other Doctor I worked with. To portray her as someone afraid to push back & speak up is to not know Deborah Birx,” she added.
“We can be extremely reductive in how we view public figures. To chalk up Deborah Birx’s entire career into a few bad moments, while under immense pressure – misses decades of service. For example, Birx arguably did more than any living person to combat AIDS & HIV,” said Griffin in her final tweet.
“I admire her,” she concluded.
Griffin resigned from her position under Trump in Jan. 2020 and has become a CNN contributor where she often criticizes the former president. She later said that her pro-Trump father and stepmother boycotted her wedding because of the comments she made against Trump.
Trump also called her a “nobody” and a “clown” over her comments to CNN.
Here’s more about the disinfectant comment:
Deborah Birx looks back on her response to President Trump’s comments about bleach www.youtube.com