Reporter Leaves WH Covid Coordinator Stumbling

On Friday, a CNN reporter interrogated Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID response coordinator, on Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to disregard CDC recommendations for COVID-19 exposure.

The White House revealed that Vice President Kamala Harris was a “close contact” of the president after revealing that President Joe Biden had COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that anybody who is considered a close contact wear a properly fitted mask around other people for ten days. But Harris didn’t act in that way.

However, Harris removed her face mask on Friday while speaking and hugging Birmingham, Alabama, Mayor Randall Woodfin at a gathering in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Jha was frequently questioned by CNN reporter MJ Lee on Harris’s violation of the CDC recommendations at the White House press briefing. Jha, though, refrained from criticizing Harris’ behavior outright.

Jha tempered his statement by saying he hadn’t been keeping tabs on the vice president’s actions, after which he said Harris is adhering to CDC recommendations.

Jha acknowledged that the CDC’s advice is clear but declined to elaborate, once more claiming not to have observed the episode.

“She took off the mask and she embraced someone. You don’t have to see it. I mean, that’s what happened. Yeah, so usually when we think about people having contact, it’s for an extended period of time,” Jha replied. “Again, I didn’t see the hug. I don’t know how long the hug lasted. But it’s very hard for me to comment on something I really didn’t see.”

A Harris representative also declined to comment on Harris ignoring CDC recommendations.