Dr. Birx Takes CNN Reporter Apart After Attempted Gotcha Question

By Bonchie | 9:30 PM on April 20, 2020

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Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Saturday, April 4, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Today’s White House briefing was your typical back and forth with the media, but this time Dr. Birx got in on the action. Apparently, reporters are getting bolder when it comes to using their biased, gotcha techniques on others besides Trump.

One reporter, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, attempted to trap the infectious disease expert with a leading question about testing capacity in states. The question, of course, ignored several important details and the fact that not all cities are created equal in this pandemic. In response, Dr. Birx took Collins apart without even getting her scarf wrinkled.

Video: Bubbles BURST during Monday's WH Coronavirus Task Force briefing as CNN's Kaitlan Collins tried to get Dr. Deborah Birx to trash states like Florida where Jacksonsville has reopened their beaches annnnnnd she calmly, methodically ripped these complaints to shreds pic.twitter.com/386Tk47U5Z

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 20, 2020

Collins tries to get Dr. Birx to say that some states are flaunting the guidelines because they are reopening parts of their localities. This ignores that some cities have not only seen few infections, but decreasing infections for weeks. In other words, even at the state level, there is no “one size fits all” solution for when to re-open. Places like Miami will have to be more careful while cities like Jacksonville are in good shape to get started again.

Dr. Birx also notes that she’s not going to comment on numbers she hasn’t seen, something the reporter wanted her to do in regards to South Carolina. This is all about these states reopening some beaches, which has triggered the crap out of the beltway and New York media. Never mind that the subways are still going, a chief cause of the spread of the Wuhan virus. Let’s instead get upset at some people social distancing outdoors 1500 miles away.

Good for Dr. Birx not taking this stuff laying down. She went right at the reporter with facts and figures where she had them and an unwillingness to speculate where she didn’t. That’s as effective of a tack as any other.