Meet Trump's CDC Director Who Has a History of Controversial Health Decisions

Synopsis

Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stands behind Vice President Mike Pence during press conferences about the coronavirus. While President Trump minimizes the issue, Redfield oversees the federal agency responsible for responding to the pandemic. The CDC shipped its first test kits to state labs in February, a month after the outbreak was identified in China, but many kits were flawed due to contaminated reagents. This led to significant delays in testing, with the CDC and state health labs conducting over eight thousand tests to date. In contrast, South Korea has conducted nearly two hundred thousand tests. Redfield, a celebrated neurologist known for his work on HIV/AIDS, faces scrutiny as the agency struggles to manage the crisis, particularly as the virus spreads to places like northern Maine. His past decisions, including supporting mandatory HIV screening for the military, have sparked controversy, adding to the challenges he faces as the pandemic unfolds.