Thread by @ASlavitt

COVID Update January 13: I have been asked one question over and over by the press, states, hospitals & others: what’s the first thing you expect to be different with Biden as president?

My answer: getting the truth. 1/

We are a week from the results of what happens when the country is stoked with lies. Those lies cause people to behave irresponsibly as they did attacking a false election claim. 2/

The same exact thing is true with the pandemic. We are dealing with the effects of lies.

Why not enough tests? Why caught flat footed? Why are people under-reacting?

Because they are living in a world full of lies. 3/

If COVID and the election of Joe Biden are both lies, then if you believe those lies, you act accordingly. 4/

All progress must be built on truth.

And there’s no single more important place for Biden to start. 5/

Take a look at what happened when I asked the new CDC Director what’s going to happen next.

Listen to how she answers questions. 6/

https://twitter.com/inthebubblepod/status/1349407624828096512

If you listen to the 30 minute interview on @inthebubblepod, you may have the same reaction I did.

Is this what it feels like to listen to a responsible, honest adult? 7/

And as she says her truth starts with what she tells the president-elect? Difficult truths. Not: “I got this sir.” Not: “you’re the greatest sir.” Not: “I think we can spin this?” Or: “Let’s avoid accountability & declare victory.”

Those are lies that create more lies. 8/

And let me be clear. People are lied to when they want to be lied to. When they won’t brook dissent. When they won’t ask tough questions. When they spin themselves. When everything is a reflection on them.

Trump hired liars and he trained liars. 9/

Real leaders invite bad news and look critically when good news is reported. Not the other way around. 10/

And real leaders don’t hide in tough times. They are present. 11/

Watch that Rochelle Walensky video and see how much simpler the truth is.

And when advisors are free to speak to the public and free to dissent, we can expect to get the truth. 12/

The truth will help us greatly. Sometimes it’s scary. Sometimes it’s inconvenient. Sometimes it will reveal that full answers are not known. 13/

But we can all make better decisions for our families. We can use the free press to get better answers. We can estimate the length of sacrifice. 14/

A pandemic response is tough to begin with. A pandemic response built on lies is doomed to failure. 15/

Once a common set of facts is discussed, data shared regularly, it won’t end all arguments. But it create a common basis for what we can achieve? 16/

Money from Congress to support vaccines rolling out
Best practices to reduce risk
Clarity around what is safe & not
The ability to hear from scientists directly 17/

Watching Congress today should assure us however that lies and politics are still happily married.

Lies are easy to tell but can be turned against the liar. Those who lied that “lockdowns are worse than the virus” were now themselves locked down. 18/

The truth is the pandemic isn’t gone. And the path forward will have twists & turns. It’s also true that things won’t get better right away. What is true is the new team will bring competence, compassion & honesty & be held to a very high standard from their boss. 19/

But some things will change day 1.

In a word: the malarkey.

/end