Dr. Craig Spencer
Appearances
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
Good to see you again.
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
Well, Rachel, I was remarkably confused because for the past month, I have been talking to people who normally would have responded to this Ebola outbreak in Uganda, the Marburg outbreak in Tanzania. And guess what? They didn't. For the last decade, I have followed every single outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola. I know everyone that is doing this. I know where they're responding.
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
I know the people in Uganda at the Ministry of Health. I've heard from people who normally would be supported by our country, by our government, to set up border screening, to do the contact tracing on the ground. They're not getting paid. Countries are asking them to work for free because USAID normally would have supported them.
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
Here in this country alone, we normally would have sent people almost immediately once these outbreaks are declared. Guess what? We didn't do this. And the result is right now, people around the world are looking to the United States saying, what are your commitments? What is true about your support? What Elon Musk said today was just categorically untrue.
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
We did not get rid of Ebola prevention and then put it back in place. Elon Musk and Doge were responsible for actively and actually stripping off the letters of the USAID, the agency from its headquarters in Washington, DC. On the first day of this administration, Donald Trump signed an executive order to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization. And just very recently,
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
hundreds of CDC workers, those frontline doctors and epidemiologists who would be responding to outbreaks like Ebola abroad, Ebola in the United States, and other infectious threats that you've just highlighted, 750 of those people were let go. Regardless of what Elon Musk and others say, we have set ourselves up to be very sorry for an infectious threat.
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
Maybe next week, maybe next month, maybe next year. But I've been saying over and over again, we will regret this.
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
Absolutely. What is happening right now is they're trying to play out the clock to the point where USAID officials and funding, all of these other things that we've built up over decades to do the incredible work of disease surveillance and responding to Ebola outbreaks and every other thing like HIV around the world.
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
They're trying to wait until all of that is completely destroyed so it cannot be put back together again. Now, let me be very clear. There are reasonable reasons for people to think that USAID and the WHO and other agencies should be reformed. But we should not do what we did overnight. We have left Americans stranded abroad. We have left
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
20 million people around the world without access to HIV treatment, which they were recently getting through Pupfar, which is largely supported by USAID. Without these services in place, people around the world are less safe and less healthy, and that increases the risk to people here In the United States, USAID's tagline has been from the American people.
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
But in reality, it is for the American people. And everyone needs to understand that threats and health problems in other places can soon become problems here without the USAID, without funding those incredible people that are selfless and have dedicated their professional life to this work, without people from the WHO and CDC. We will all be less safe.
The Rachel Maddow Show
As measles outbreak turns deadly, RFK Jr. gets the facts wrong
And again, I promise you, we will regret this.