Donald Trump’s CDC director contradicts him over WHO funding ‘freeze’

Donald Trump’s CDC director contradicts him over WHO funding ‘freeze’ saying body’ STILL is a great partner’ and ‘we’re continuing to work side by side’

• Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the World Health Organization ‘a great partner’ 
• Redfield’s compliment came one day after President Trump announced a funding freeze so the U.S. could probe WHO’s coronavirus response 
• Redfield wouldn’t answer questions about the danger the funding halt might pose as the world combats the coronavirus pandemic 
• CBS News’ Anthony Mason asked him specifically about critical comments made early Wednesday by billionaire Bill Gates   
• Trump said the WHO was too ‘China-centric’ and the group not backing a travel ban from China cost lives around the globe 
• WHO generally doesn’t support travel bans because they might lead to countries under-reporting cases of disease  
• Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID

By Nikki Schwab, Senior U.s. Political Reporter For Dailymail.com

Published: 17:32 BST, 15 April 2020 | Updated: 18:13 BST, 15 April 2020

The director of the Centers for Disease Control called the World Health Organization ‘a great partner’ one day after President Trump announced he would halt the group’s funding over its coronavirus response. 

Dr. Robert Redfield appeared on ‘CBS This Morning’ and refused to say how the funding freeze would impact the world’s ability to combat the coronavirus pandemic, saying he’d prefer to leave ‘geo-political issues’ for those with that expertise. 

‘WHO has been a long-term and still is a great partner for us,’ Redfield said, adding that ‘we’re continuing to work side by side to do the best that we can to limit the spread of disease and to protect the American people.’ 

CDC Director Robert Redfield called the World Health Organization a ‘great partner’ and said the CDC would continue to work ‘side by side’ with the agency 

President Trump announced Tuesday that he was freezing American funding going toward the WHO over the group’s ‘China-centric’ reaction to the coronavirus pandemic 

CBS News’ Anthony Mason (left) brought up President Trump’s freeze of WHO funding to Redfield (right) in the context of comments made by Bill Gates, who called it ‘dangerous’ 

‘Their work is slowing the spread of Covid-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever,’ Gates tweeted Wednesday

CBS News’ Anthony Mason brought up comments made by Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates, who savaged Trump on Twitter over his decision to cut off funds in order to investigate WHO’s coronavirus response. 

‘Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,’ Gates tweeted early Wednesday morning.

‘Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever,’ the billionaire added. 

US Chamber of Commerce and American Medical Association slam Trump’s move to stop WHO funding 

Following Trump’s Tuesday announcement to cut $500million in funding to the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association has condemned his administration for the action. 

‘During the worst public health crisis in a century, halting funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) is a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating Covid-19 easier,’ president Dr. Patrice Harris said in a statement Tuesday. 

She said ‘clear and consistent messaging’ is key for all parties during  a health crisis.   

‘The public needs to trust that their leaders are being honest and forthcoming and are really working cooperatively to do whatever they can.

‘Physicians feel like we’re going into this with one arm tied behind our back. And so we really need the administration to use all the levers of the government to get those on the front lines all the support they need,’ she added. 

The US Chamber of Congress also pushed back again the funds cut on Wednesday. 

‘The Chamber supports a reformed but functional World Health Organization, and US leadership and involvement are essential to ensuring its transparency and accountability going forward,’ Myron Brilliant, the Chamber’s executive vice president and head of international affairs, said in a statement. 

‘However, cutting the WHO’s funding during the COVID-19 pandemic is not in US interests given the organization’s critical role assisting other countries — particularly in the developing world — in their response,’ he added. 

Redfield wouldn’t address Gates’ comments head-on.  

Trump first flirted with cutting off WHO’s funding a week ago, telling reporters that the group’s response to the pandemic had been too ‘China-centric,’ and suggested WHO was engaged in a cover-up. 

On Tuesday during a Rose Garden press conference, the president made his decision official.  

He expressed that his biggest beef with WHO was that the organization didn’t support a travel ban from China – and he did. 

‘Other nations and regions who followed WHO guidelines and kept their borders open to China accelerated the pandemic all around the world,’ Trump said. ‘The decision of other major countries to keep travel open was one of the great tragedies and missed opportunities from the early days.’ 

‘The WHO’s attack on travel restrictions put political correctness above lifesaving measures,’ Trump said. 

The president implemented a partial travel ban on incoming flights from China in late January.  

The WHO generally doesn’t support travel bans because it could lead countries to under-report cases of disease and destabilize economies, while a country is trying to fight an epidemic.  

‘Although travel restrictions may intuitively seem like the right thing to do, this is not something that WHO usually recommends,’ said Tarik Jašarević, a WHO spokesperson, when discussing the China travel ban in late January. 

‘This is because of the social disruption they cause and the intensive use of resources required,’ Jašarević said. 

The U.S. is the single largest contributor to WHO. 

The country paid around $893 million to the organization between 2018 and 2019, which made up about 15 per cent of the agency’s total budget. 

Gates wasn’t alone in his criticism.  

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted to the news of the funding freeze by suggesting this was another way Trump was trying to place blame for the U.S.’s sluggish response to combatting the virus on others. 

‘This is another case, as I have said, of the president’s ineffective response, that a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility,’ she said. ‘A week person blames others.’ 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Medical Association also slammed Trump’s action. 

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