Scott Atlas resigns as Trump pandemic adviser after controversial tenure

After a controversial four months, Scott Atlas has resigned as special adviser to Donald Trump, a White House official said on Monday. He attacked science-based public health measures and repeatedly clashed with other members of the coronavirus taskforce, Report says, citing Fox News.

“I am writing to resign from my position as Special Advisor to the President of the United States,” Atlas said in a letter to Trump dated 1 December, according to Fox News, which first reported his resignation. Atlas later confirmed his resignation in a tweet.

Atlas is a neuroradiologist and fellow at Stanford’s right-wing Hoover Institution, where he works on healthcare policy. He has no expertise or experience in infectious diseases or epidemiology, yet Trump nevertheless selected him to advise the pandemic president.