Twitter has removed an anti-mask tweet made by *checks notes* a White House coronavirus task force member for spreading misinformation.
Dr Scott Atlas, who is literally a coronavirus task force member, had his tweet removed from the platform for violating the Covid-19 Misleading Information Policy, CNN reports.
“Masks work? NO,” the now-deleted tweet read.
Atlas’ tweet also linked to an American Institute for Economic Research article that doubts the effectiveness of masks.
Although this specific tweet was removed by the platform for violating community guidelines, it was just one of many tweets by Atlas that reportedly spread misinformation about the effectiveness of mask-wearing.
Just to reiterate: this man is a literal government employee who directly works on the coronavirus response. He is a neuroradiologist but is *not* an expert on infectious diseases such as coronavirus.
At this point, mask-wearing isn’t really worth arguing about, with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actively urging people to wear masks in public. But if you thought that was enough to convince Atlas, you are sorely mistaken.
According to CNN, the CDC director Dr Robert Redfield is actually worried that Atlas may be spreading this misinformation to the president himself.
As it currently stands, the United States has recorded at least 8.14 million cases, with 219,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. The US reported 69,100 coronavirus cases on Friday alone.
So basically, everyone should be wearing a damn mask.
The news comes as Trump has effectively turned his Twitter account into an anti-Joe Biden campaign, calling him “corrupt” and comparing him to Hillary Clinton, among other things.
Corrupt politician Joe Biden makes Crooked Hillary look like an amateur!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2020
The US Presidential Election, set for November 2, is just weeks away, with Joe Biden currently leading the polls. Although Biden is currently in the lead, there is still a very real chance that Trump will be reelected.
