Scott Atlas

Scott Atlas
Atlas looking to the camera
Atlas in 2020
Born
Scott William Atlas

(1955-07-05) July 5, 1955 (age 69)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (BS)
University of Chicago (MD)
Occupations
  • Radiologist
  • professor

Scott William Atlas (born July 5, 1955)[1][2] is an American radiologist, political commentator, and health care policy advisor. He is the Robert Wesson Senior Fellow in health care policy at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank located at Stanford University. During the United States presidential campaigns of 2008, 2012, and 2016, Atlas was a Senior Advisor for Health Care to several presidential candidates. From 1998 to 2012 he was a professor and chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center.[3]

Atlas was selected by President Donald Trump in August 2020 to serve as an advisor on the White House Coronavirus Task Force.[4] In that role, Atlas at times said misinformation about COVID-19, such as theories that face masks and social distancing were not effective in slowing the spread of the coronavirus.[5][6] His statements and influence on policies caused controversy within the task force.[7][8][9] Contrary to the recommendations of most of the scientific community,[10] Atlas recommended establishing herd immunity by allowing or encouraging low-risk people to get COVID-19 while attempting to protect more vulnerable people.[11][12]

He advocated that states should not engage in COVID-19 testing of virus-exposed but asymptomatic individuals,[13] called for faster reopening of schools and businesses,[14][15][16] and encouraged residents to resist or "rise up" against state restrictions adopted to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.[17] Atlas resigned from his position in the White House on November 30, 2020.[18]

  1. ^ "Scott W. Atlas (Atlas, Scott W., 1955-)". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  2. ^ "Resume" (PDF). docs.house.gov. US House of Representatives. September 1, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  3. ^ "Scott W. Atlas—Hoover Institution Biography". hoover.org. Hoover Institution. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  4. ^ Varadarajan, Tuunku (September 4, 2020). "Trump's Covid Adviser Gets a Washington Welcome". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "Trump's den of dissent: Inside the White House task force as coronavirus surges". The Washington Post. 2020. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  6. ^ Alba, Monica; Lee, Carol E. (November 19, 2020). "Atlas on the outs with coronavirus task force but still pushing Trump's pandemic claims". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2020. Atlas, has not attended White House task force meetings in person since late September, according to two administration officials, as he continues to spread misinformation about the worsening health crisis. ... The growing split between Atlas and task force leaders came after the group's leading medical experts — Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci — indicated that they did not appreciate Atlas' controversial input or contributions in the Situation Room gatherings. "That was done in deference to Fauci and Birx because they basically said they will not work with him," a senior administration official said about the adviser's absence at the meetings.
  7. ^ Abutaleb, Yasmeen; Rucker, Phillip; Dawsey, Josh; Costa, Robert (October 19, 2020). "Trump's den of dissent: Inside the White House task force as coronavirus surges". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  8. ^ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Haberman, Maggie; Weiland, Noah (October 19, 2020). "Trump Calls Fauci 'a Disaster' and Shrugs Off Virus as Infections Soar". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  9. ^ Dawsey, Josh; Abutaleb, Yasmeen (October 31, 2020). "'A whole lot of hurt': Fauci warns of covid-19 surge, offers blunt assessment of Trump's response". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference abc1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Atlas, Scott (June 29, 2020). "Mixed messages: Corona deaths level off as cases surge". Tucker Carlson Tonight (Interview). Interviewed by Tucker Carlson. Fox News Channel. We like the fact that there's a lot of cases in low-risk populations because that's exactly how we're going to get herd immunity—population immunity—when low-risk people with no significant problem handling this virus, which is basically 99% of people, uh, get this, they become immune and they block the pathways of connectivity to contagiousness of older, sicker people.
  13. ^ Avlon, John; Warren, Michael; Miller, Brandon (October 29, 2020). "Atlas push to 'slow the testing down' tracks with dramatic decline in one key state". CNN. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Miller, Andrew (November 12, 2021). "Dr. Scott Atlas unloads on Fauci, Birx, Redfield in forthcoming memoir: 'I was disgusted'". Fox News. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference LeBlanc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Collins, Kaitlan; Acosta, Jim; Cole, Devan (November 30, 2020). "Dr. Scott Atlas resigns from Trump administration". CNN. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2020.