Birx flouted own counsel with T’giving trip
White House coronavirus-response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx traveled with her family out of state over Thanksgiving weekend — disregarding her own advice to stay home and not gather during the holidays, according to a report.
Birx was joined by three generations of family at one of her vacation properties on Fenwick Island in Delaware on Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving, The Associated Press reported Sunday.
The group — which included her husband, Paige Reffe, a daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren — were from two households.
Birx — who has a home in Washington, DC, and another in Potomac, Maryland — defended the trip, saying she needed to take care of winterizing the property before a potential sale.
“I did not go to Delaware for the purpose of celebrating Thanksgiving,” Birx said in a statement.
She argued that those on the trip belong to her “immediate household” — but acknowledged that they live in separate homes.
Birx had urged people in the days leading up to Thanksgiving to keep gatherings to “your immediate household.”
“I don’t like it to be any number,” Birx said on CNN’s “New Day.”
“Because, you know, if you say it can be 10, and it’s eight people from four different families, then that probably is not the same degree of safe as 10 people from your immediate household.”
Birx said at the time that every American is obligated to make sacrifices to stop the spread of the virus.
Her trip came to light as a result of a relative saying there were concerns about Birx social-distancing during the pandemic, the AP said.