Nancy Pelosi Lashes out at White House Adviser Dr. Deborah Birx Over Coronavirus Response: 'Don't Have Confidence There'

Nancy Pelosi didn't hold back in expressing her thoughts about Dr. Deborah Birx, the top White House coronavirus advisor. Pelosi, who serves as the House Speaker, said she has "no confidence" in Birx in an interview with ABC News. Pelosi explained her reasoning by saying that she believes "the president is spreading disinformation" about the COVID-19 outbreak and that with Birx as his "appointee" she is helping to facilitate those inaccuracies.

Her comment comes after she reportedly bad-mouthed while in a closed-door meeting on Thursday. Politico reported that while speaking to Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, Pelosi allegedly referred to Birx as "the worst" due to the lies she claims she has been spreading. In knocking Birx down, Pelosi also showed her support for Dr. Anthony Fauci, whom she reportedly called a "hero" for the way he comes around and been a guiding voice in the fight against the coronavirus. Pelosi's comments about Birx incited the White House's director of strategic communications, Alyssa Farah, who quickly took to Twitter to counter what Pelosi had said. Farah called Pelosi "deeply irresponsible" for attempting to "undermine" Birx while creating doubt in the minds of Americans.

"I think the president is spreading disinformation about the virus and she's his appointee. So I don't have confidence there, no." -- Pelosi says she doesn't have confidence in Dr. Birx pic.twitter.com/EyPV3MhyIN

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 2, 2020

Appearing on CNN, Birx had the opportunity to fire back at Pelosi, but instead, she decided to not get personal and answer as such, saying that in her career, she had never been called "non-scientific or non-data driver." She also said she had "tremendous respect" for Pelosi, deflecting her frustration instead of the New York Times for running the story without getting the correct date from her.

Across the country, the coronavirus continues to be a growing concern. Birx said on Sunday that unlike what was seen in March and April, what is happening now is more "widespread" and that this a new phase of the pandemic as deaths and cases continue to increase. Florida just set the record for most COVID-19 deaths in a week with 1,230 while adding 63,277 cases over the last seven days. Along with Florida, states like California, Texas, Georgia and South Carolina have also dealt with increasing numbers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also predicts that 19,000 Americans could die in the next week due to the coronavirus.