Dr. James Phillips blasted Trump’s drive-by stunt outside the hospital in Bethesda, Maryland while infected with coronavirus in October as “insanity.”
Phillips, the chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University (GWU) who was working as an attending physician at Walter Reed on a contract basis, said the president was risking the lives of the Secret Service agents in the vehicle “for political theater.”
In a tweet following his final shift at Walter Reed on Sunday, Phillips hinted his removal was linked to his public criticism of the president, but said he stood by his words.
“Today, I worked my final shift at Walter Reed ER,” he wrote.
“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.”
Phillips has been contacted for additional comment.
Earlier this month, CBS News reported Phillips was being removed from the hospital’s schedule from January.
According to the outlet, Walter Reed officials denied having anything to do with the physician’s removal, suggesting the decision was made by his contractor, GW Medical Faculty Associates. The contractor has been contacted for comment.
The move came two months after Phillips blasted the president’s drive-by stunt on October 4 as “completely unnecessary.”
“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,” he wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.
“They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.”
He later added: “The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.”
Footage of the drive-by showed Trump waving to supporters from the back seat of the vehicle wearing just a cloth face mask. Two Secret Service agents in the front of the vehicle were seen wearing protective scrubs, N95 masks, and face shields.
Phillips was far from the only medical expert to criticize the president’s violation of coronavirus guidelines.
“This is an individual with an active infection in close proximity with two other individuals, in a vehicle with closed windows, performing an optional task (masks help, but they are not an impenetrable force field),” Yale Institute for Global Health Director Saad Omer said.
The Brown Center for Digital Health director Megan Ranney tweeted that Trump was “still infectious” and required to isolate under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
