‘A President Who Simply Does Not Care’ About HIV/AIDS: 6 Angered Experts Quit Trump’s Panel
The members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS write that the administration "pushes legislation that will harm people living with HIV and halt or reverse important gains made in the fight against this disease." The White House disputes the former advisers' characterizations. "Well, I mean, respectfully, the president cares tremendously about that and the impact it has," Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.
The Washington Post:
Trump ‘Simply Does Not Care’ About HIV/AIDS, Say 6 Experts Who Just Quit His Advisory Council
The first hints of an uncertain future for the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS came last year, when Donald Trump's presidential campaign refused to meet with advocates for people living with HIV, said Scott Schoettes, a member of the council since 2014. That unease was magnified on Inauguration Day in January, when an official White House website for the Office of National AIDS Policy vanished, Schoettes said. “I started to think, was it going to be useful or wise or would it be possible to work with this administration?” Schoettes told The Washington Post. “Still, I made a decision to stick it out and see what we could do.” (Wang, 6/19)
The Hill:
Six Resign From Presidential HIV/AIDS Council Because Trump 'Doesn't Care'
Six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS have angrily resigned, saying that President Trump doesn’t care about HIV. Scott Schoettes, Lucy Bradley-Springer, Gina Brown, Ulysses Burley III, Michelle Ogle and Grissel Granados publicly announced their resignations in a joint letter published in Newsweek titled, “Trump doesn’t care about HIV. We’re outta here.” (Thomsen, 6/17)
