The leadership of the US Department of Health and Human Services allowed the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be subject to "the president's daily whims," ​​said Chuck Schumer, leader of the Democrats in the US upper house of Congress.

In this regard, the politician called for the resignation of the Minister of Health and Human Services (HHS), Alex Azar.

“Therefore, today I call on Minister Azar to resign immediately.

We need a health minister who cares about the American people and not about the political interests of President Trump, ”Schumer said at a Senate meeting.

Recall that the federal agency CDC is called upon to work to prevent possible epidemics and outbreaks of infectious diseases.

  • Chuck Schumer

  • Reuters

  • © Erin Scott

Commenting on the allegations, Health Department spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said Senator Schumer is trying to mislead fellow citizens and discredit the Trump administration's work to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

“Minister Azar has repeatedly briefed President Trump, along with the country's leading doctors, and has insisted that President Trump have direct access to these doctors throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

Fighting the Deep State

The reason for the accusations against the head of the American Ministry of Health was the recent publication of Politico.

It described how officials from the Trump administration tried to influence the CDC reports on the situation with COVID-19 in the country.

According to the publication, representatives of the Ministry of Health insisted on reviewing and making adjustments to the daily reports on coronavirus.

These efforts intensified after Michael Caputo became the Deputy Press Secretary of the US Department of Health in April 2020, writes Politico.

It is with his figure that the publication associates the department's attempts to influence the content of reports on the spread of coronavirus.

In a number of cases, representatives of the Ministry of Health openly stated to CDC Director Robert Redfield that the prepared reports contradict the statements of the head of state about the situation with the spread of coronavirus.

Politico cites emails and testimonies from sources familiar with the situation.

Hired by Caputo as a senior adviser to the Department of Health, Paul Alexander, who previously worked at McMaster University in Canada, has told CDC officials to change the way death and morbidity reports are issued so that he can receive the full text of each study before publication and even make changes to it.

"It seems to me that the CDC is writing custom-made articles about the administration," Politico quotes a letter sent by Alexander to the CDC leadership.

In particular, the Ministry of Health was not satisfied with the CDC's assessments regarding the opening of schools in the country.

“The CDC tried to make it look as if after the children get together, the coronavirus will spread and this will affect the reopening of schools ... This is deliberately false information from the CDC, they should be ashamed.

Their purpose is clear, ”the letter said.

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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Paul Alexander also called on Redfield to amend two already published reports that allegedly exaggerate the risks of coronavirus to children and undermine Trump's efforts to reopen schools.

“The reports have to be read by someone outside of the CDC, like me, we cannot allow this to continue as before.

This is outrageous, this is insane.

Nothing should be published without me reading and approving the conclusions formulated by the CDC, and also correcting them so that they look logical, balanced and complete, ”the publication quotes Paul Alexander.

Commenting on this information, Michael Caputo stated that the Department of Health is duly verifying the CDC reports.

“We strive to ensure that the measures to combat the pandemic were factually and scientifically grounded, and not taken on the basis of the veiled interests of the elements of the deep state in the CDC system,” he said.

As Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained in a commentary to RT, the "deep state" means the bureaucracy and nomenclature that has not been replaced for decades, which has settled in American government agencies.

“These are middle-ranking officials.

As president, Trump challenged them.

And they are against him.

And this "deep state" is now trying to neutralize the economic successes that Trump has, due to the situation with the coronavirus.

The situation is really catastrophic, although Trump is trying to embellish it, ”the expert explained.

A similar point of view is shared by Andrey Sidorov, head of the Department of International Organizations and World Political Processes at the Faculty of World Politics, Moscow State University.

The "deep state" is people who have been in their administrative posts for years, the bureaucratic apparatus.

Not every presidential administration knows how to work with bureaucracy; Trump has repeatedly stated that he is being hindered from working.

And these officials, too, may well manipulate statistics in their interests, this is quite possible.

Today, any numbers serve someone, "the expert noted in a commentary on RT.

Skepticism virus

Recall that today the United States is leading in the number of people who have become ill and died from a new type of coronavirus.

The country recorded 6 million 606 thousand cases of coronavirus, during the pandemic in the country about 196 thousand people died from COVID-19.

Such data are presented on the Johns Hopkins University website.

At the same time, the daily increase in the incidence now in the United States is about 35-40 thousand cases, according to WHO.

Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House working group on combating coronavirus, said in early August that the epidemic in the United States entered a new phase as the virus began to actively spread in rural areas.

  • Social distancing announcement in New York

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“Today we are seeing a different situation than in March and April.

The virus is extremely common.

It has infiltrated both urban and rural areas, ”Birks said on CNN. 

But literally the next day after this message, the head of the White House, Donald Trump, said that the pandemic was receding.

“We're starting to see evidence of significant progress.

An encouraging sign that the virus is receding, ”he said at a press conference at the White House.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, Donald Trump has repeatedly made it clear that he does not support the introduction of quarantine measures that could harm the economy.

So, back in April, against the background of the dire situation with the coronavirus, the President of the United States announced the authorities' readiness to relax restrictions, since enterprises cannot stand idle for too long.

“This is what we are doing - we are reopening our country, and this must be done.

America wants to open, Americans want to open, ”added Trump.

The president also supported protests against quarantine restrictions that took place in Michigan in April. 

It should be noted that information about the pressure exerted by the White House on the epidemiological service appeared earlier.

In May, the American magazine The Lancet - one of the most respected medical publications in the world - published an article entitled "Reviving the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The material said that under the Donald Trump administration, the role of the CDC is minimized and limited to only nominal advisory functions.

In addition, the Trump administration removed from the work of specialists who voiced statistics that were inconvenient for the authorities, the article noted. 

Panic fighter

Donald Trump himself earlier actually confirmed the accusations that he deliberately exaggerated the situation with the coronavirus in his public speeches.

He admitted this in an interview with Bob Woodward, the content of the conversation was included in the book of the famous journalist, which was recently published.

It follows from the book that back in early February, Trump said in an interview with Woodward that COVID-19 is a deadly infection, many times more dangerous than seasonal flu.

During another conversation in March, Trump clarified that he was downplaying the virus so as not to cause panic.

  • US elections

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According to Andrei Sidorov, Trump could really let loose about his motives in a conversation with Bob Woodward.

“Perhaps Trump was not aware of who he was talking to.

Woodward has always said that he loves the Republicans, but always put another pig on them, starting with Nixon, ”the expert noted.

After publication, this information caused a resonance in the United States.

When Trump was asked the relevant question during a meeting with voters, he said that he did not understate anything in practice, but did not want to panic in society.

“I didn’t play down anything.

In many ways - from the point of view of the measures taken - I even exaggerated.

I acted very decisively.

I don’t want to be dishonest and I don’t want people to panic, ”Trump said.

Konstantin Blokhin does not exclude that Trump's rhetoric was largely dictated by the politician's desire to please his electorate - conservative Americans who rallied against quarantine restrictions.

“Besides, economic indicators are very important for Trump.

Therefore, he tried to ignore the epidemic whenever possible so that economic growth would continue, ”the expert noted.

According to the expert, it is now difficult to say whether the Democrats will be able to achieve the resignation of the Minister of Health, since a special investigation must be carried out for this.

“In any case, the Democrats have found effective leverage on Trump.

The economy cannot work effectively in the face of a pandemic, and Democrats are now blaming the head of the White House for this.

These are much more weighty accusations than talk about unproven Russian interference, ”Blokhin is sure.

Andrey Sidorov adheres to a similar point of view.

“Do not forget that the political struggle is not only between Trump and Biden, but also between Republicans and Democrats on the ground, at the level of governors and the legislature.

And now the image of the Republicans is tied to the image of Trump.

Democrats are trying to portray him as an ineffective leader.

And this wave of accusations related to the Ministry of Health is part of this campaign, ”the expert summed up.