During a public hearing in the House this week, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sharply criticized Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the outgoing head of the federal agency known as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Doctor, why did you and the Biden administration mislead the American people?” Jordan asked nearly immediately after opening his mouth. Walensky wasn’t impressed.
As could be expected, she asked for clarification on what on earth Jordan was actually talking about, and the Ohio Congressman — sounding in his cadence like he was trying to imitate an auctioneer — rattled off supposed misrepresentations she’d made about whether those who’d received the vaccine against COVID-19 were vulnerable to infection by the virus. Walensky tried to explain that her previous statements represented what was generally understood to be true based on the available data.
Jordan took grave and melodramatic issue with Walensky’s levelheaded explanations about what the data had indicated, including about whether transmitting the virus to others was a serious threat after COVID-19 vaccinations. Jordan, though, didn’t spend much time on any one issue, and he subsequently asked whether U.S. government money was used at “the lab in China,” referring to a virology research center that has figured in some favored right-wing theories about the origin of the pandemic.
“In October 2021, CDC released a scientific brief highlighting all of the science that was out there on infection-induced immunity,” Walensky explained after Jordan also accused the Biden administration of glossing over so-called natural immunity, meaning lingering immunity after an infection. “There are numerous areas where we have provided science and a science review to provide data to the American people as soon as we had it.”
“Well it would have been nice if you’d have just been honest and straightforward with the American people every single time throughout this virus,” Jordan petulantly told Walensky as he closed. He presented no actual evidence that Walensky had made substantial misrepresentations. Also, it’s odd how many times he used the phrase “the American people.” The frequency makes him sound desperate for validation as some kind of democracy defender that he’s not. Watch below:
