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Dr. Scott Atlas, member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, speaks at a news conference at the White House on Sept. 23.
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Dr. Scott Atlas, the most controversial member of the White House coronavirus task force, has resigned, Fox News reported late Monday.
Fox News obtained his resignation letter, dated Dec. 1, in which he said: “I worked hard with a singular focus—to save lives and help Americans through this pandemic,” and that he “always relied on the latest science and evidence, without any political consideration or influence.”
Atlas was serving on the task force on a 130-day Special Government Employee detail, which was due to expire at the end of this week, Fox News reported. He was appointed by President Donald Trump to the task force in August.
Atlas, a radiologist with no previous experience in infectious diseases, has had Trump’s ear in recent months. He has been an outspoken critic of lockdowns and supporter of a “herd immunity” strategy, and earlier this month was sharply criticized after tweeting that Michigan should “rise up” against coronavirus restrictions.
He was also assailed by many health experts for spreading misinformation. In October, Twitter Inc. TWTR, -0.17% blocked one of his tweets that falsely claimed face masks were ineffective at preventing the spread of COVID-19. Numerous studies have debunked that, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stressed the importance of wearing masks.
“I have real problems with that guy,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told the Washington Post earlier this month. “He’s a smart guy who’s talking about things that I believe he doesn’t have any real insight or knowledge or experience in. He keeps talking about things that when you dissect it out and parse it out, it doesn’t make any sense.”
In September, CDC Director Robert Redfield was overheard by a reporter saying of Atlas: “Everything he says is false.”
Atlas, a Hoover Institution fellow, was also condemned by Stanford University colleagues, with one faculty member calling him “an embarrassment to the university.”
