Thread by @MatthewFoldi

NEW from me ⁦@TheSpectator⁩:

Meet Mandy Cohen, the Fauci fangirl Biden wants to head the CDC

Cohen has what critics deem a record of punishing political opponents and co-founded a group pushing to defund the police 😬

(1/xx) thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

Mandy Cohen — the doctor rumored to be President Joe Biden’s successor to the scandal-plagued Rochelle Walensky atop the Centers for Disease Control — loves Anthony Fauci, multiple sources familiar with her record tell us.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(2/xx)

Mandy Cohen, Biden’s likely pick to helm the CDC has what many view as a troubling record of politicizing science and unnecessarily supporting draconian lockdown measures, even in the face of scientific reality.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(3/xx)

Most are seizing on a photo of Mandy Cohen wearing a mask emblazoned with a giant picture of Anthony Fauci and a video of her at a briefing (while North Carolina was under a strict mask mandate) in which she looks to see if the cameras are on, pretends to put on her mask, then… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

WATCH: the video of Mandy Cohen pretending to take her mask off, via @RaleighGOP

https://twitter.com/raleighgop/status/1278525214872256518

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(5/xx)

However, Mandy Cohen’s record beyond viral pictures and videos paints a picture of someone who leveraged her previous position in government to prosecute political vendettas.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(6/xx)

#IA01’s @RepMMM, who spent decades as a doctor and three years as the director of Iowa’s Department of Public Health, told me that Mandy Cohen’s on-paper qualifications cover up a troubling record of partisanship and “egregious Covid-19 policies.”

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(7/xx)

“As North Carolina’s former health secretary from 2017-2021, Dr. Mandy Cohen appears, on the surface, to be immensely qualified. However, given the loss of trust in the CDC, a political activist physician is not what this ‘doctor ordered.’”

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(8/xx)

“Dr. Cohen vociferously supported lockdowns and prohibiting social gatherings, supported mask mandates — even while violating her own imposed restrictions — and supported mask mandates for school children, regardless of vaccination status” @RepMMM

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(9/xx)

#GA10’s @RepMikeCollins, who’s on @housescience, went further.

“Americans don’t trust the CDC, and the appointment of another lockdown extremist will only make that worse. The pandemic exposed the tyrants among us, and Dr. Cohen…is one.”

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(10/xx)

Towards the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cohen presided over a delayed and bungled response to testing some of North Carolina’s most vulnerable: senior citizens in nursing homes, which at the time academics lambasted as “unconscionable.” 

newsobserver.com/news/local/art…

(11/xx)

While the Covid-19 era was marked by scientific uncertainty, Mandy Cohen’s actions at times stand out as cruel and vindictive. 

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(12/xx)

In September 2021, for example, Cohen lashed out at a North Carolina school district that ended quarantines and contact tracing for students exposed to Covid. In a letter to the school board, Cohen threatened legal action, and wrote that these policies posed “an imminent threat… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Mandy Cohen’s threats of legal action against schools represented a major about-face for her from July 2020, where she was incredibly optimistic about school reopenings.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(14/xx)

“Schools have not played a significant role in the spreading of Covid-19,” Mandy Cohen said at the time. “Children, particularly younger children, are less likely than adults to be infected with Covid-19. And for children who do become infected with Covid-19, they seem to be less… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

“Mandy Cohen is a condescending version of Mary Poppins and Dr. Fauci,” one plugged-in North Carolina operative told me. “She doesn’t care that the mandates are impractical and harmful to North Carolinians. She wants to look good for her Ivy League colleagues.”… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

For those who had been concerned that outgoing CDC director Walensky’s close coordination with teachers’ unions (covered here by @bdomenech) would be a thing of the past under her successor, Mandy Cohen’s record proves troubling.

thespectator.com/topic/the-data…

(16/xx)

One North Carolina parent told me that Cohen jettisoned science to do the bidding of teachers’ unions, not of parents and students.

“It was clear that schools could reopen safely, but the NC Association of Educators, the closest thing North Carolina has to a teachers’ union,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Beyond Cohen’s failures on school reopenings, her critics highlight her willingness to shut down religious services and fun. Cohen recently discussed her decision to shut down football in North Carolina; @michaelpsenger recently shared this awful video.

“She [Massachusetts’s… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Mandy Cohen's state also lost its All-Star NASCAR race to neighboring Tennessee over its Covid-19 restrictions. The state’s restrictions were so severe that studies from WalletHub would regularly rank it as one of the worst in America; in August 2020, for example, North Carolina… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Mandy Cohen’s critics, like the North Carolina-based @JohnLockeNC, point to comments like this — and her failures to respond to open records requests — as further evidence of bad judgment and a lack of transparency.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(20/xx)

The CEO of @JohnLockeNC, @TheRightAOC, said that Cohen “didn’t answer any open records requests regarding from whom she was seeking and getting data and advice regarding Covid-19 mandates.”

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(21/xx)

Ironically, @JohnLockeNC's analysis showed that Mandy Cohen’s Department of Health and Human Services was three and a half months behind the rest of the country in reporting death data to the very same CDC that she is now likely to helm!!!!

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(22/xx)

@JohnLockeNC “Those data are much too late to alert #NCGOV Roy Cooper and his administration that his lockdowns and severe personal and business restrictions are creating more harm than good,” @JohnLockeNC's @jonpsanders wrote in 2021.

johnlocke.org/research-warns…

(23/xx)

Mandy Cohen’s former department is actually still being sued by a North Carolina racetrack owner over how she allegedly singled out a racetrack for closure during the pandemic because its owner criticized the administration of North Carolina’s Democratic governor, #NCGOV… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

The decision to shut down ACE Speedway without merit looks even worse for Mandy Cohen when considering her failure to provide adequate testing for North Carolina’s vulnerable seniors.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(25/xx)

“While Mandy Cohen was focusing on shutting down outdoor events like ACE Speedway, her department lagged behind the rest of the country in implementing mandatory testing programs at nursing homes,” a North Carolina observer told me.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(26/xx)

Beyond Mandy Cohen’s vindictive nature as the head of North Carolina’s Covid-19 task force, her opponents have unearthed what they view as troubling evidence of her history as a partisan Democratic activist.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(27/xx)

The most prominent instance was unearthed by a group called Activist Facts, a watchdog organization that focuses heavily on nonprofits — like one that Mandy Cohen helped found.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(28/xx)

Doctors for America, which Cohen co-founded as Doctors for Obama, could pose significant problems for her during the confirmation process.

Following Obama’s election in 2008, Doctors for Obama rebranded as Doctors for America and worked to help pass Obama’s signature… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Since then, Doctors for America has taken on a litany of left-wing causes, including a demand that prisons release inmates during Covid-19 and a push to drastically “[scale] back the role of law enforcement,” which Activist Facts calls a push to defund the police!!… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

“Americans should view Dr. Mandy Cohen’s impending selection to lead the CDC with a skeptical eye,” an Activist Facts spokesperson told @TheSpectator. “The organization — first founded as Doctors for Obama — has frequently advocated for policies that are well beyond the practice… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cohen’s likely nomination isn’t going over well with @NCGOP members.

#NC03's @RepGregMurphy, the only practicing surgeon currently in Congress, was the first to call for Walensky’s resignation, which she gave exactly two years to the day (!!) after his… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

@NCGOP @RepGregMurphy “Public trust in medicine has eroded over the years because of the federal government’s heavy hand in dictating what is best for a family, small business, or educational institution,” #NC03's @RepGregMurphy told me.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(33/xx)

“It’s for that reason I called on Director Walensky to resign in the first place. I would hope the new director would help restore confidence in the agency by relying on objective science rather than political science,” #NC03's @RepGregMurphy said

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Interestingly, @DaleFolwell, the North Carolina treasurer currently running for #NCGOV, said that this news warrants divine intervention.

“Pray for our country,” he said. “As a member of the NC Council of State, my observation is that the actions of Dr. Mandy Cohen during Covid… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

The news of Cohen’s nomination didn’t solely spark concerns from the medical community. @DrBobGoldberg, the co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, told me this isn’t an entirely difficult pill to swallow, but that the CDC itself is what needs reform.

Cohen… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

At the end of the day, in @DrBobGoldberg’s estimation, it doesn’t necessarily matter who is running CDC, because the agency still “spends more money on the health impact of climate change and providing pamphlets about dating tips for trans teens than it does on infectious disease… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Mandy Cohen does not actually require Senate confirmation until 2025, and her record suggests that could be an uphill climb even if President Biden wins a second term next November.

thespectator.com/topic/mandy-co…

(38/xx)

I'll sign off with a mic drop from America's Congresswoman, #IA01's @RepMMM:

Mandy Cohen "organized 'Doctors for Obama' which in itself isn’t an issue except that it raises concerns given the current criticisms of politicization within CDC and the current lack of trust among the… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…