CNN media pundit Brian Stelter rebuked Surgeon General Jerome Adams after he called for a de-escalation in political rhetoric surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and criticized the way the media have portrayed the outbreak.
“What Adams called ‘bickering’ and ‘criticism’ is what most of us call accountability,” Stelter wrote in his weekend newsletter. “I hear him saying ‘stop exposing the Trump administration’s failures.’ There is value in all of the coverage. And government officials don’t get to decide that — readers and reporters and whistleblowers and editors do.”
Adams condemned the media on Saturday for their negative coverage of the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak.
“We really need you all to lean into and prioritize the health and safety of the American people,” Adams told reporters. “No more bickering. No more partisanship. No more criticism or finger-pointing.”
At least 3,400 people in America have tested positive for the virus as of Sunday evening, and 62 people have died, according to the New York Times.
Trump declared a national emergency as a result of the pandemic on Friday.
