Trump allies lining up doctors to prescribe rapid reopening
Source: AP
By MICHAEL BIESECKER and JASON DEAREN
9 minutes ago
Republican political operatives are recruiting extremely pro-Trump doctors to go on television to prescribe reviving the U.S. economy as quickly as possible, without waiting to meet safety benchmarks proposed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
The plan was discussed in a May 11 conference call with a senior staffer for the Trump reelection campaign organized by CNP Action, an affiliate of the GOP-aligned Council for National Policy. A leaked recording of the hourlong call was provided to The Associated Press by the Center for Media and Democracy, a progressive watchdog group.
Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign communications director, confirmed to AP that an effort to recruit doctors to publicly support the president is underway, but declined to say when the initiative would be rolled out. Anybody who joins one of our coalitions is vetted, Murtaugh said Monday. And so quite obviously, all of our coalitions espouse policies and say things that are, of course, exactly simpatico with what the president believes. ... The president has been outspoken about the fact that he wants to get the country back open as soon as possible.
"During an emergency such as the current pandemic, its important that the government provide consistent science-based information to the public, said Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, an epidemiology professor at Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health. El-Sadr said having doctors relay contradictory information on behalf of the president is quite alarming. I find it totally irresponsible to have physicians who are touting some information thats not anchored in evidence and not anchored in science,
Read more: https://apnews.com/4ee1a3a8d631b454f645b2a8d9597de7
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference attended by conservative luminaries said:
The presidents going to get tagged by the fake news media as being irresponsible and not listening to doctors. So we have to gird his loins with a lot of other people.
Matt Schlapp told AP on Monday that he stood behind what he said on the leaked call. Its important to get the message out there that most people recover from corona. Most people are not in mortal danger with corona and that we can safely open up the economy.
iluvtennis
(19,871 posts)dweller
(23,661 posts)and Schlapp, go gird his loins yourself
✌🏼
beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,282 posts)TomCADem
(17,390 posts)This is just like the right wing paying Jane Doe to say that she was right-to-life. The right is not interested in the truth. They are just ready to pay people off to say whatever is convenient.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/29/health/california-doctors-coronavirus-claims/index.html
A widely shared local television video of last week's news conference, which was posted on YouTube, reached more than 5 million views and was amplified by Elon Musk and Fox News, where Dr. Dan Erickson and Dr. Artin Massihi appeared on primetime shows two nights in a row.
The video has since been taken down by YouTube for violating the platform's policy on misinformation, a YouTube spokesperson said.
The doctors, who are not epidemiologists and who own and operate urgent care centers in the Bakersfield area, held the news conference on April 22 to share their conclusions about the results of 5,213 coronavirus tests at their clinics, extrapolating their findings to the California population as a whole.
bucolic_frolic
(43,282 posts)mountain grammy
(26,648 posts)C_U_L8R
(45,020 posts)We will remember their names and there will be a reckoning.
flibbitygiblets
(7,220 posts)Oh and hey! No masks, those are bad for you! And no tests--they end up having different results once someone actually gets a disease, so have them recommend not getting tested! And Hydrochloroquine for all! We're ridin' the 'quin, woohooo!!
underpants
(182,877 posts)Wear masks dont wear masks
I dont test everyone for the flu so why test for this?
Etc.
SWBTATTReg
(22,166 posts)scumbags want (a fully opened economy), don't have the expertise needed, to ensure that all business activities can safely resume. This should be a business by business decision, taken up at their own pace and not at the pace others seem to want (rump and cronies).
This group seems to be in the process of fudging or misstating the scientific facts, to appear to support their desire to speedily 'reopen' the economy.
Ironic that they are using the 'fake xxx' tag too. They must all share the same beds or something. The most important part of the message that schlapp sidestepped was that possible exposures will still happen w/ the CV, and a sizeable chunk of the population will get sick, and some will die. In short, they're saying it is an acceptable loss!
This is the highest form of idiotic word twisting I've seen. Pathetic. From so called 'conservatives' no less. Where it does it say in the constitution that all are equal to death and illness equally?
This is another example of dollars over lives.
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)their license to practice medicine.
no_hypocrisy
(46,182 posts)2. Only a handful of MAGAts will find these doctors credible.
keithbvadu2
(36,906 posts)Will these 'doctors' denounce immunity for the businesses?
DBoon
(22,397 posts)So the death rate would have to be above 50% to be a concern? Even the Black Death "only" killed 30% of Europe
SergeStorms
(19,204 posts)Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, not a hypocritical oath.
Brainfodder
(6,423 posts)But not really with this JACKASS!
haele
(12,676 posts)Who are (or think they are) hurting because cosmetic and non-essential surgeries and procedures are bumped down in priority that the current mis-Administration can probably find a few willing to say anything for a small fee or the free advertising it might give them.
Haele