Ousted Scientist Rick Bright Testifies
Toya Sarno Jordan—Bloomberg/Getty Images
We ran the numbers: There are 2025 news articles covering this topic. 46% (935) are left leaning, 33% (675) center, 20% (415) right leaning.
On Thursday, Rick Bright, a career government scientist-turned-whistleblower, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, and said that without a stronger federal response, the coronavirus threatens to make 2020 the “darkest winter in modern history.” While left-leaning articles highlight key takeaways from Bright’s testimony, right-leaning articles highlight that the Department of Health and Human Services pushed back on Bright’s testimony and whistleblower complaint.
The Washington Post published a left-leaning article highlighting key takeaways from Bright’s testimony, which includes the claim that lives were lost because of inaction, the administration pushed for the vastly expanded use of unproven drugs, and that there is pessimism surrounding the 12 to 18-month timeline for a vaccine. Bright also said that scientists don’t have a single point of leadership to look towards, and that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar cast Bright as a malcontent skipping work.
NPR published a centrist article reporting that Bright filed a whistleblower complaint about being removed from his post as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Bright spoke at length about his concerns with the supply of personal protective equipment, saying as far back as 2007 there were shortages of equipment such as N95 respirators.
A right-leaning article by Fox News highlights that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) pushed back on Bright’s testimony and whistleblower complaint Thursday, accusing him of “politicizing the response” to coronavirus. HHS also said that Bright was the one who pushed for serious consideration of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, praising his team for acquiring the drugs.