The Walter Reed doctor who was abruptly removed from his rota after condemning Trump's COVID-19 hospital joyride says he regrets nothing
REUTERS/Cheriss May TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
- The doctor who slammed President Donald Trump for greeting supporters inside a sealed car while still infected with COVID-19 has said that he regrets "nothing."
- Dr. James Phillips was abruptly removed from his work schedule at Walter Reed, the medical facility where Trump was treated for the disease, earlier this month.
- He tweeted on Monday: "Today, I worked my final shift at Walter Reed ER ... I stand by my words, and I regret nothing."
- Health officials at Walter Reed told CBS News that they were not responsible for the decision to remove him from the schedule. Phillips' contractor said he was still employed by the hospital group.
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The doctor who criticized President Donald Trump for greeting supporters from inside a sealed car while infected with COVID-19 says he regrets "nothing" after being abruptly removed from his work rota.
Dr. James Phillips, an emergency room doctor, said on Monday that he had worked his last shift at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Trump was being treated for COVID-19 in October.
"Today, I worked my final shift at Walter Reed ER," said Phillips on Twitter. "I will miss the patients and my military and civilian coworkers - they have been overwhelmingly supportive. I'm honored to have worked there and I look forward to new opportunities. I stand by my words, and I regret nothing."
In October, Phillips called Trump's decision to greet supporters from inside a sealed car - while still receiving treatment for COVID-19 - "insanity" because it endangered the lives of Secret Service agents inside the vehicle.
He wrote in a now-deleted tweet: "Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential 'drive-by' just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity."
In a subsequent tweet, which was also deleted, he wrote that the president's "irresponsibility is astounding."
CBS News first reported on December 2 that Phillips had been removed from Walter Reed's schedule from January.
Health officials at the hospital told CBS News that they were not responsible for the decision to remove him from the schedule.
A spokesperson for Phillips' contractor at the hospital, GW Medical Faculty Associates - which may have been responsible for the decision to remove him from the schedule - told CBS News that it would not comment on scheduling matters but said he was still employed by the group.
Trump was admitted to Walter Reed in October after his blood oxygen levels dropped following his COVID-19 diagnosis. He stayed there for several days before he was discharged on October 5.
Judd Deere, a White House spokesperson, insisted at the time that the ride outside the hospital during his stay had been "cleared by the medical team as safe" and that appropriate safety measures had been taken, according to The Guardian.
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