Trump elevates Scott Atlas, a doctor with a rosier coronavirus outlook

Source: Politico | August 17, 2020 | Nancy Cook

Unlike Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci, the new senior adviser is telling the president what he likes to hear.

Dr. Scott Atlas warns against coronavirus overreaction and hysteria, pushes for the reopening of schools and sports leagues and downplays the need for broader testing to root out the virus.

Unlike bigger-name, more circumspect public health officials, who’ve watched their luster dim at the White House, Atlas has become a star adviser in President Donald Trump’s inner circle at a crucial moment during the pandemic.

With the virus showing no sign of letting up — the U.S. has recorded roughly 5.4 million Covid-19 cases and 170,000 deaths — and with less than three months to go in an uphill reelection battle, the president is betting that a telegenic physician with a positive outlook, though no expertise in infectious diseases or epidemiology, can change his fortunes.

Atlas, upbeat and relentlessly on message that Americans should resume life as much as they can, is the live embodiment of the president’s Covid-is-not-that-big-of-a-deal approach. Where school superintendents and football conference officials see a risk of the virus’s spread this fall, he cautions against too-strict measures. During Fox News appearances, he has downplayed the need for students to wear face coverings or practice social distancing if schools do reopen.

“It is proven children have no significant risk,” he said during a July 15 TV appearance. It’s a line that Trump has parroted but that hasn’t been borne out in districts where in-person learning has resumed: Schools in Georgia, North Carolina and Indiana have had to shut down shortly after starting the year because of positive cases.

In private meetings at the White House, Atlas has irritated other aides by arguing against expanded Covid-19 testing. He opposed a proposal championed by Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, to scale up home testing through methods such as saliva tests. And recently, in a task force meeting, he told Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, that science does not definitively support government mandates on wearing masks. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans wear masks when they interact with those outside of the home and in instances when social distancing is not possible.)

Atlas’ elevation inside the White House comes at a time when Trump aides are trying to give the perception of doing everything they can to fight the virus and find a vaccine roughly 80 days from the election, as the rate of infection climbs and the United States’ testing capacity falls short. Trump has sidelined or lashed out at many of his top health professionals, including Fauci and Birx, and has welcomed the different medical perspective Atlas provides, one senior administration official said.

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  • Consistent August 17, 2020 at 11:26 am #42007

    Consistent August 17, 2020 at 11:26 am #42008

    “….with less than three months to go in an uphill reelection battle, the president is betting that a telegenic physician with a positive outlook, though no expertise in infectious diseases or epidemiology, can change his fortunes.”

    Consistent August 17, 2020 at 12:18 pm #42009

    Consistent August 17, 2020 at 1:02 pm #42010

    Consistent August 17, 2020 at 1:17 pm #42014

    Consistent August 17, 2020 at 1:20 pm #42015

    EVERYDAY August 17, 2020 at 2:51 pm #42016

    Couldn’t get real experts in infectious diseases to agree with him, so Trump went out and found himself a “yes man” whose medical experience is radiology.

    God help us.

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