Robert Redfield

Redfield Voices Alarm Over Influence of Trump's New Coronavirus Task Force Adviser

CDC Director Robert Redfield took aim at COVID-19 task force member Scott Atlas, telling colleague in an overheard call that "everything he says is false"

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The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has grown increasingly concerned that President Donald Trump, pushed by a new member of his coronavirus task force, is sharing incorrect information about the pandemic with the public, NBC News reports.

Dr. Robert Redfield, who leads the CDC, suggested in a conversation with a colleague Friday that Dr. Scott Atlas is arming Trump with misleading data about a range of issues, including questioning the efficacy of masks, whether young people are susceptible to the virus and the potential benefits of herd immunity.

"Everything he says is false," Redfield said during a phone call made in public on a commercial airline and overheard by NBC News.

Redfield acknowledged after the flight from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., that he was speaking about Atlas, a neuroradiologist with no background in infectious diseases or public health. Atlas, a frequent guest on Fox News where he pushed to reopen the country and espoused views that more closely align with Trump's opinions during the health crisis, was brought on to the White House task force in August.

In an emailed statement, a CDC spokesman said: "NBC News is reporting one side of a private phone conversation by CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield that was overheard on a plane from Atlanta Hartsfield airport. Dr. Redfield was having a private discussion regarding a number of points he has made publicly about Covid-19."

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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