Oct 18, 2020 - Health

Jake Tapper says White House refused invitations to have COVID-19 experts appear on his show

Fadel Allassan

CNN anchor Jake Tapper said on Sunday the White House declined invitations to have anyone from its coronavirus task force on his show, "State of the Union," including Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx and CDC director Robert Redfield.

Why it matters: Coronavirus infections jumped by almost 17% in a week, and the number of new cases increased in 38 states and Washington, D.C., as of Thursday. On Friday, the U.S. reported 70,000 new cases in one day for the first time since July.

President Trump has previously faced criticism for silencing Fauci. The White House last week refused to allow the NIAID director or any task force members to appear on ABC's "This Week."

What he's saying: "I want to note in this critical time, we believe that it is important for you to hear from the Trump administration about their efforts to fight the virus," Tapper said.

"So we requested members of the task force, including Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx, the HHS secretary, the CDC director, the head of NIH, the head of the FDA, the president's doctor, or the chief of staff, the national security adviser, the White House communications director, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, the secretaries of State or Treasury or Defense, and on and on."
"The White House declined to make anyone from the Trump administration available to answer questions about the pandemic today."
Tapper instead was joined by Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, to talk about the re-election campaign, which she advises.

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Jake Tapper says White House refused invitations to have COVID-19 experts appear on his show

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