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Why The Surgeon General’s Silly Gaffe Actually Matters

Bobby Lewis@revrrlewis

On Fox & Friends, the Surgeon General warns that “we are not an authoritarian nation, so we have to be careful when we say ‘Let’s do what China did. Let’s do what South Korea did.'”

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Surgeon General Jerome Adams is, unfortunately, not inspiring confidence as the United States faces the national health crisis presented by Covid-19, the novel coronavirus.

On Saturday, he criticized the media for looking into the origins of the Trump administration’s failures to adequately address the crisis as it emerged. He said there should be “no more finger-pointing or criticism” and that news outlets should produce “less stories looking at what happened in the past.” (He said there would be time for such stories later, but understanding why the government response has failed is important now.)

And on Monday, he made what seemed like a relatively minor gaffe on Fox News by falsely referring to South Korea as an “authoritarian.” But it was, in fact, a deeply revealing slip-up. Continue reading.

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