Former COVID task force member says Dr. Atlas was added to pandemic response when Trump “watched his audition repeatedly on Fox News”
Olivia Troye: Anyone doctor "who actually cares about human life, will tell you that Scott Atlas is on his own planet in terms of how he's advising the President”
Published
Citation From the November 19, 2020, edition of MSNBC's All In With Chris Hayes
CHRIS HAYES (HOST): It's also striking to me just how dangerous Scott Atlas and Donald Trump are. I mean Scott Atlas and Donald Trump are the reason that the coronavirus task force has not been appearing in public. It's the reason the public health expertise has been jettisoned in front of flagrant superspreader events and essentially pro-virus talking points. From Atlas, there's reporting today that he's on the outs but still pushing Trump's pandemic claims. He hasn't attended a White House Task Force meeting in person since September. How much is his presence part of what has led us into the point we are in?
OLIVIA TROYE (GUEST): I think it's fair to say it's significant. There's been a great division between the task force members, the experts on the task force. And any medical practitioner out there who really understands the virus and what is happening here, who really actually cares about human life, will tell you that Scott Atlas is on his own planet in terms of how he's advising the President and what he is stating in his rhetoric. It is dangerous, and unfortunately, the President watched his audition repeatedly on Fox News. And I say that completely, 100% seriously because this is how the President identifies people who stay on his message for new jobs and this is a man who has control. And he advises the president with these dangerous messages and unfortunately, the President's followers, and his supporters, and his voters follow this rhetoric and it is killing Americans today.