Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb shot back at assertions that President Biden was not considered a close contact of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after she tested positive for COVID-19 following a White House event last week.
At the event, Biden and Pelosi shared a hug and the president kissed the congresswoman on the cheek. The White House quickly dismissed concerns that Biden was at risk of contracting the virus, saying the two were not in close contact by the definitions set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as they were not in close proximity for more than 15 minutes.
Gottlieb said the White House’s characterization shows messaging problems that plague the agency.
“That’s the problem with the CDC guidance. The CDC guidance was always bizarre. It talked about 15 cumulative minutes as if this is radiation exposure, that you have increased risk from cumulative exposure. This is binary. You either catch it or you don’t,” Gottlieb told CBS’s “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan.
Gottlieb argued that a hug “certainly supersedes 15 minutes of being around someone within six feet” and said people must be practical about this issue.
“With respect to the president, I hope he does well and doesn’t catch it. I do think he’s probably out of the woods from his exposure to the Speaker of the House, but saying that that wasn’t close contact where we have pictures of him hugging the Speaker, that clearly was close contact,” Gottlieb said.
“I just think we need to be plainspoken and practical about how we describe these things,” he added.
