Despite President Donald Trump's campaign mantra of "we're rounding the corner" on the global coronavirus pandemic, count former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on the side of Democrat Joe Biden who is projecting a "dark winter."
"Things are getting worse around the country," Gottlieb told CBS's "Face the Nation." "I think Thanksgiving is really going to be an inflection point. I think December is probably going to be our toughest month. But when you look at what's happening in states right now, you're seeing accelerating spread."
And, within weeks, he noted, "hospital systems are going to become pressed again."
"So this is very worrisome as we head into the winter," he told CBS's Margaret Brennan.
Gottlieb resigned from the Trump administration in March 2019, just months before the COVID-19 outbreak is reported to have began in Wuhan, China. The politicization of the pandemic is about to give way after Tuesday's election, according to Gottlieb.
"I think the facts are going to overtake any political dialogue very quickly," he said. "I think as we get into the next two or three weeks, it's going to be unmistakable what's happening around the country. And we're going to have to start taking tough steps."
Still, Gottlieb added, "I don't think we're going to lock down like Europe is right now."
"I don't think the political support is here for that, even at a state level," he continued. "I think you're going to see targeted mitigation. States take local actions, but we're going to have to start taking more aggressive actions."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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