The Surgeon General is thought of as the “nation’s doctor.” It’s someone the American people should turn to for medical facts and figures. While the position is a political appointment, it’s not supposed to be someone who is beholden to the president. But with Jerome Adams, it’s unclear where he draws the line. Even before the coronavirus crisis, CNN opinion writers Ford Vox and Arthur Caplan wrote, “The surgeon general is shirking his job:”
“As Trump has pursued policies toxic to health and public safety — on issues including gun massacres, pollution and the systematic abuse and endangerment of migrant children at the border — Adams has stayed bafflingly silent. He should stand up and speak out against what his boss is doing. Or he should quit.”
You'd think the Surgeon General could come up with a better analogy to coronavirus deaths than deaths from cigarette smoking.
Thankfully, we still have journalists like Chris Wallace to call these guys out on their bullshit. https://t.co/pap0YDd4h4
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) April 5, 2020
Then there were his statements about how this will be “the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans.”
“This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment.”
Pearl Harbor is not the right metaphor here, folks.
The awful death toll that the virus will wreak this week on NYC and elsewhere is not a sneak attack–but something we've known was coming for a couple months. A slow-motion car crash, worsened by our own failure to prepare.
— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) April 6, 2020
Washington Governor Jay Inslee added, “I mean, the surgeon general alluded to Pearl Harbor. Can you imagine if Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, ‘I’ll be right behind you, Connecticut. Good luck building those battleships.’”
Then there are his numerous quotes that downplay coronavirus, like this Tweet from February.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Risk is low for #coronarvirus
But high for the #fluSo get your #FLUSHOT! ?? pic.twitter.com/Jr4lQFla4c
— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) February 1, 2020
It wasn’t just in February either. He made this statement in March:
“If we had massive numbers of cases we would be seeing more deaths. And so we actually feel pretty good that some parts of the country have contained it just like when you look at the flu.”
On March 1, Jerome Adams yet again downplayed the threat of the #CoronavirusPandemic, tweeting: “for the general public the immediate health risk is considered low.”
Meanwhile, the deadly #coronavirus was spreading like wildfire UNDETECTED.?#COVID19 https://t.co/7bT2rExHA0
— Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) April 5, 2020
Yesterday journalist Soledad O’Brien confronted Adams about the way he has handled (or mishandled) the coronavirus response.
Sir: you are a medical professional and a public health professional. Your job is not to suck up to the President of the United States, but factual information.
Your quote: The President “is healthier than what I am” was obviously untrue. You undermine the public trust, sir. https://t.co/thmxYeqxeI
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 5, 2020