‘I didn’t know it was Russian propaganda’ Top Trump coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas apologizes after giving interview to Kremlin-backed RT News where he blasted U.S. lockdowns
- A top White House adviser on coroanvirus, Scott Atlas, had to apologize after engaging in an interview with RT News – a Russian propaganda news outlet
- Atlas, a close adviser to Donald Trump, said Sunday he ‘regrets’ the interview and didn’t know RT was Kremlin-backed and a ‘registered foreign agent’
- During the half-hour remote television interview, Atlas bashed U.S. lockdowns
- ‘The lockdowns will go down as an epic failure of public policy,’ he said. ‘The argument is undeniable. The lockdowns are killing people’
Donald Trump’s top coronavirus adviser was forced to apologize Sunday after engaging in an interview with RT News – a known Russian propaganda media outlet – where he bashed parts of the U.S. for continuing COVID-19-related lockdowns.
‘I recently did an interview with RT and was unaware they are a registered foreign agent,’ Scott Atlas tweeted Sunday.
‘I regret doing the interview and apologize for allowing myself to be taken advantage of. I especially apologize to the national security community who is working hard to defend us,’ he continued.
The controversial White House coronavirus adviser, who used the excuse that he was unaware that RT is a Russian state-controlled network, told the outlet in his on-camera interview that U.S. lockdowns are ‘killing people.’
A top White House adviser on coroanvirus, Scott Atlas, had to apologize after engaging in an interview with RT News – a Russian propaganda news outlet
Atlas, a close adviser to Donald Trump, said he ‘regrets’ the interview and didn’t know RT was Kremlin-backed and a ‘registered foreign agent’
During the near half-hour remote television interview, Atlas bashed U.S. lockdowns
‘It’s a deadly pandemic, there’s no understating that,’ Atlas said during the nearly half-hour interview. ‘We’ve had 230,000 lives roughly lost from the virus and certainly many lost from the policy of shutdowns.’
‘The lockdowns will go down as an epic failure of public policy,’ he said. ‘The argument is undeniable. The lockdowns are killing people.’
Scott Atlas was introduced on the network’s Going Underground by its host Afshin Rattansi as ‘one of the only two men the U.S. president apparently listens to on the pandemic.’
A team of U.S. lawmakers said last year that the Kremlin-backed platform uses YouTube as its ‘propaganda vehicle of choice,’ to spread their message en-masse.
Atlas has already been accused in the past of spreading disinformation regarding the coroanvirus pandemic.
Earlier this month, one of Atlas’ tweets was removed by Twitter after he claimed facial coverings don’t work to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Highly respected coronavirus experts, including top National Institute of Health official Dr. Anthony Fauci, who specializes in infectious diseases, has publicly expressed concern over Atlas’ remarks.
In September, Fauci called Atlas an ‘outlier’ after he questioned the effectiveness of lockdowns.
Trump promised in a Sunday morning tweet that there would be ‘no lockdowns’ if he’s reelected
Atlas is a controversial COVID-19 figure and has been bashed by other coroanvirus experts, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, as an ‘outlier’ in his thoughts that masks and lockdowns don’t work
Bill Gates has also referred to Atlas as a ‘pseudo-expert.’
Atlas fired back at both Fauci and Gates’ criticism in the RT interview.
‘I’m proud to be an outlier, especially when the inliers are completely wrong,’ he said.
‘I frankly don’t care what somebody like Bill Gates says,’ Atlas continued. ‘Being rich does not confirm expertise,’ Atlas said. ‘I feel very good about not only my own expertise, my own CV. I’m a healthcare policy person. I’ve been working in this for 15 years.’
Trump touted on Twitter, before his first of five rallies in Michigan Sunday morning, that there will be ‘no lockdowns’ if he is reelected.
‘Biden wants to LOCKDOWN our Country, maybe for years. Crazy! There will be NO LOCKDOWNS. The great American Comeback is underway!!!’ he posted.