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NEW: On Jan. 29, HHS Secretary Alex Azar told Trump the coronavirus epidemic was under control. The U.S., he said, had never mounted a better interagency response or created a faster test. Inside Azar& #39;s early missteps, w/ @stepharmour1: https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-chiefs-early-missteps-set-back-coronavirus-response-11587570514">https://www.wsj.com/articles/...
When White House advisers in February criticized Azar for the delays caused by the recall of CDC tests, he lashed out at Redfield, the CDC director, accusing him of misleading him on the timing of the fix. "Did you lie to me?" he yelled. https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-chiefs-early-missteps-set-back-coronavirus-response-11587570514">https://www.wsj.com/articles/...
FDA chief Stephen Hahn asked HHS in January if he could contact companies about possible shortages of PPE and other equipment. He was told no. Azar told associates such calls would alarm the industry and make the administration look unprepared. https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-chiefs-early-missteps-set-back-coronavirus-response-11587570514">https://www.wsj.com/articles/...
After a CDC official on Feb. 25 said the agency was preparing for a potential pandemic, a furious Trump called Azar and threatened to oust the CDC official. The next day, Trump put Pence in charge. https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-chiefs-early-missteps-set-back-coronavirus-response-11587570514">https://www.wsj.com/articles/...
Azar recently snapped at a White House aide inquiring about a congressional briefing that he was "not even really the secretary of HHS anymore" and to ask someone else. https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-chiefs-early-missteps-set-back-coronavirus-response-11587570514">https://www.wsj.com/articles/...
Azar told @WSJ he and the administration were "on this from day one" and conceded the testing system wasn& #39;t initially equipped to handle the disease but that "we have adapted." Trump, he said, from the start treated the pandemic with "prescient gravity." https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-chiefs-early-missteps-set-back-coronavirus-response-11587570514">https://www.wsj.com/articles/...
