Former surgeon general defends Fauci, Birx for staying on Trump coronavirus task force

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Former Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams defended Trump administration coronavirus task force members Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx over criticism that they should have quit working for former President Donald Trump.

"Birx [and] Fauci are both great people who've expressed feeling conflicted," Adams wrote on Twitter on Monday. "We all decided being at the table was better than having key issues go unheard. Why is the woman's (or black man's) perspective dismissed? All had a choice, [and] stayed. Dr. Birx fought hard [and] saved lives."

"People so freely suggest they would have left, but hold the one woman in the room to a different standard," Adams continued. "If Dr. Birx or I weren't there, many medical/ public health conversations would've had no input whatsoever from a woman, or a person or color. That's a heavy cross to bear."

Birx claimed on Sunday that someone was giving Trump different data than she was working with.

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"I saw the president presenting graphs that I never made," Birx told CBS "Face the Nation." "So, I know that someone  — or someone out there or someone inside was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president. I don't know to this day who, but I know what I sent up and I know that what was in his hands was different from that. That worries me because at any moment  — I've built my career on data transparency and accountability."

Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, U.S. surgeon general, speaks during a television interview outside the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec. 8, 2020. (Oliver Contreras/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Adams was in the spotlight in 2020 as he encouraged Americans to protect themselves during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Trump appointed Adams to the post in 2017. At the time, Adams was serving as Indiana's health commissioner, chosen by then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Adams announced last week that he was stepping down as surgeon general at President Biden's request.