President Trump blasted “60 Minutes” for airing what he described as an “incorrect” interview with “fake whistleblower” Dr. Rick Bright, who says he was ousted from his position as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for political reasons.
In the interview with host Norah O’Donnell, Bright, a “whistleblower” who claimed last week in front of a House subcommittee that the Trump administration pressured officials to push hydroxychloroquine and that he was ignored after warning about shortages of some medical equipment, again criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic.
“The best scientists that we have in our government who are working really hard to try to figure this out aren’t getting that clear, cohesive leadership, strategic plan message yet,” said Bright, as reported by Mediaite. “Until they get that, it’s still gonna be chaotic.”
As Politico reported last week, while Bright says he was ousted from his position with BARDA by the administration because he pushed back against the promotion of hydroxychloroquine, “some colleagues say Bright’s complaint leaves out the full context for the pivotal malaria drug episode, which two current and two former officials say paints a murkier picture of Bright’s claims.”
Some of his allegations about department decisions on Covid-19 don’t match officials’ statements or the public record. And Bright’s central claim that he was ousted for battling Trump appointees over science is less than certain given that some of his own staff spent months raising concerns about his leadership, including a complaint filed by a person in Bright’s office last summer.
Ahead of Bright’s testimony in front of a subcommittee — chaired by a close ally of Bright — Trump said the “so-called” whistleblower is simply a “disgruntled employee” who is widely “not liked or respected” by people with whom he has worked.
“I don’t know the so-called Whistleblower Rick Bright, never met him or even heard of him, but to me he is a disgruntled employee, not liked or respected by people I spoke to and who, with his attitude, should no longer be working for our government!” Trump tweeted ahead of Bright’s testimony Thursday.
On Sunday, Trump took aim at CBS for airing the interview with Bright, specifically calling out O’Donnell and Shari Redstone, chairwoman of ViacomCBS. He also made sure that Health and Human Services Sec. Alex Azar knew that Bright was “trashing him on T.V.” and that Maine Sen. Susan Collins was witnessing what was happening with “this whole Whistleblower racket.”
“[60 Minutes] & third place anchor, [Norah O’Donnell], are doing everything in their power to demean our Country, much to the benefit of the Radical Left Democrats,” Trump wrote in a tweet thread Sunday (posts below). “Tonight they put on yet another Fake ‘Whistleblower’, a disgruntled employee who supports Dems, fabricates stories, & spews lies.”
“[60 Minutes] report was incorrect, which they couldn’t care less about. Fake News!” he continued. “I don’t know this guy, never met him, but don’t like what I see. How can a creep like this show up to work tomorrow & report to [HHS Sec. Alex Azar], his boss, after trashing him on T.V