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US Health Secretary Alex Azar warned Donald Trump in a letter that last week’s attack on the Capitol threatened the administration’s legacy, and urged the president to support a peaceful transfer of power.
In the two-page formal resignation letter, dated January 12, Azar recited what he saw as the administration’s key achievements, but expressed concern that last week’s siege of Washington and Trump’s false claims of widespread electoral fraud “threatens to tarnish these and other historical legacies of this administration.”
“The attacks on the Capitol were an assault on our democracy and the tradition of peaceful transitions of power,” Azar wrote.
“I implore you to continue to unequivocally condemn any form of violence, to demand that no one attempt to disrupt the inaugural activities in Washington or elsewhere, and to continue to unreservedly support the peaceful and orderly transition of power on January 20, 2021.” added.
Azar says he will resign at noon on January 20, when Joe Biden is sworn in.
Azar is not the first member of Trump’s cabinet to speak harsh words in the wake of the attack, which killed five people and led to the president’s second impeachment trial.
Betsy DeVos, Trump’s education secretary, resigned after the attack, saying in a letter to the president that she blamed his “rhetoric” for “the mess caused by violent protesters who invaded the US Capitol in an attempt to undermine the town business. “
Elaine Chao, Trump’s transportation secretary, also resigned, calling the attacks “traumatic and totally avoidable.”
Azar took over as secretary of health in 2018, overseeing the department during the unprecedented coronavirus crisis, which has so far claimed the lives of nearly 400,000 Americans. Some experts estimate that half a million deaths could be possible by the end of February.
Earlier on Friday, Azar told NBC News that the US did not have a reserve stock of Covid-19 vaccines, but was confident that there would be enough production for second doses.
“We are now confident enough that our ongoing production will be of quality and available to provide the second dose to people. So we are no longer in reserve. We have made it available to states upon request, ”Azar said.
The news came Friday when Joe Biden called for a major expansion of federal aid to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office. Biden appointed Xavier Becerra, the California attorney general, to head the health department.
