Dr. Deborah Birx says she will help with a Biden Administration transition and then “I will retire.”
“I want the Biden Administration to be successful,” Birx said in an interview with Newsy. “I will be helpful in any role people think I can be helpful in, and then I will retire.”
The Coronavirus Task Force member said her family motivated her decision.
“This experience has been a bit overwhelming. It's been very difficult on my family,” Birx told Amber Strong in a clip shared on Twitter. Birx talked about her parents and family members who have been isolated for ten months and have become depressed, “as I’m sure many elderly have.”
EXCLUSIVE: Dr. Deborah Birx tells @newsy that she is willing to help with the #Biden transition but ultimately plans to retire, citing her family's treatment over the past week. pic.twitter.com/yEPy9s0Tf9
— Amber Strong TV (@AmberCStrong) December 22, 2020
Birx said recent stories about her family and the backlash they have received also led to her decision.
The Associated Pressrecently reported that Birx and family members outside her household traveled to a Delaware vacation property after Thanksgiving. Some have criticized the decision, saying it contradicted Birx's public warnings about travel. She told FOX News the trip was focused "solely" on "preparing the property for a potential sale" and was not cause for celebration.
“What was done in the last week to my family, they didn't choose this for me. They tried to be supportive, but to drag my family into this,” Birx said.
Birx has served the countrysince the early 1980s when she was an Army Reserve. She was the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator since 2014 under presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. In February, she was added to the Trump administration’s Coronavirus Task Force along with Dr. Anthony Fauci and Vice President Mike Pence.
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