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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas apologized on Sunday for giving an interview to the Kremlin-backed Russian television station RT, saying he did not know the outlet was a foreign agent. registered in the United States.
Atlas, a neuroradiologist and member of the White House coronavirus task force, appeared on the channel Saturday and criticized the coronavirus lockdown measures, calling them an “epic failure” to stop the spread of the virus.
“I recently did an interview with RT and did not know he was a registered foreign agent,” Atlas wrote on Twitter. “I’m sorry I did the interview and I apologize for allowing myself to be taken advantage of.
“I especially apologize to the national security community who are working hard to defend us,” Atlas said.
RT registered as a foreign agent three years ago. A January 2017 report from US intelligence agencies said that the television station, which broadcasts by cable in the United States, is “Russia’s state propaganda machine” and that it contributed to the Kremlin’s campaign to interfere with the 2016 presidential election in favor of the winning candidate, Republican President Donald Trump.
After that report, the US Department of Justice insisted that RT America comply with the requirements of the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
“The running of the bulls … will become an epic public policy failure by people who refused to accept that they were wrong,” Atlas told RT in Saturday’s interview.
Public health experts in the United States have previously expressed concern that Atlas, who has no experience in infectious diseases, is providing misleading or incorrect information about the pandemic to Trump.
Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, said Saturday that Atlas is the only pandemic advisor Trump sees regularly.
“I have real problems with that guy,” Fauci told the Washington Post. “He’s a smart guy who talks about things that I don’t think he has any real knowledge or experience with.”
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Edited by Mary Milliken and Daniel Wallis)
