Trump’s surgeon general nominee advocated for social distancing, masks, vaccines during COVID

President-elect Donald Trump’s surgeon general nominee advocated for social distancing, masks, and COVID-19 vaccines and boosters during the pandemic, before backtracking on some of those recommendations later in 2022.

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a Fox News medical contributor and Trump’s surgeon general nominee, promoted public health advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other government agencies and officials that has since been mostly debunked. Her nomination appears to contrast significantly with Trump’s other nominees for public health roles.

In Trump’s Friday announcement of nominating Nesheiwat to be surgeon general, he said she would “play a pivotal role in MAKING AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN!”

“I am proud to announce that Dr. Janette Nesheiwat will be the Nation’s Doctor as the United States Surgeon General,” Trump wrote. “Dr. Nesheiwat is a double board-certified Medical Doctor with an unwavering commitment to saving and treating thousands of American lives.

“Dr. Nesheiwat is a fierce advocate and strong communicator for preventive medicine and public health. She is committed to ensuring that Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare, and believes in empowering individuals to take charge of their health to live longer, healthier lives,” he continued.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked on the front lines in New York City treating thousands of Americans and helped patients in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s Historic Operation Warp Speed that saved hundreds of millions of lives.”

Nesheiwat responded to the nomination on X on Friday, writing, “I am deeply honored and humbled by this nomination to serve as Surgeon General of the United States. Thank you, Mr. President, for your trust. I pledge to work tirelessly to promote health, inspire hope, and serve our nation with dedication and compassion @realDonaldTrump #MAHA”

However, Nesheiwat’s approach to handling the COVID pandemic early on included promoting social distancing, masks, and vaccines. In March 2020, on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News TV show, Nesheiwat promoted the six-feet social distancing rule to help prevent the spread of COVID.

“You need to avoid dense, crowded areas, Tucker, because remember this virus spreads very easily from person to person,” Nesheiwat said. “So, you can go to the park as long as you have about six to 10 feet distance between you and another person. We want you to be able to go outside, get some fresh air, you know, enjoy the sunshine, but you still have to take precautions because this is a highly-infectious, highly-contagious virus and the goal is to prevent the spread of this virus."

“And especially when it comes down to our millennials, who are very active youth, they want to be out there, they want to go out shopping and to parties, and to the club, and to the bar, so they are really the ones who hold the key to curbing the trajectory of this wicked virus that’s metastasizing through our nation.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, eventually confessed that he told the House Coronavirus Select Subcommittee in January that the recommendation to stay at least six feet apart for social distancing during the COVID pandemic is unlikely to have been based on verifiable data.

Likewise, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in March 2021 that the social distancing recommendation of six feet "wasn't based on clear science."

In April 2020, upon being asked on Fox News about wearing a mask outside when no one is around, Nesheiwat said, “If you go outside and there’s no one around, then the risk of you picking up the virus is low."

“But, consider this: there could’ve been someone walking by who coughed and sneezed. And remember, this virus can remain in the air for a few hours, so you are taking that chance of, you know, even though no one’s there, was there someone there two minutes prior and you could’ve just walked into the virus and have inhaled it.”

In February 2021, Nesheiwat wrote an opinion piece for Fox News, saying, “I am optimistic we are on our way to ending the needless loss of lives starting with the nothing short of miraculous coronavirus vaccine and the development of therapeutics.

“We have many vaccines in existence that treat a variety of non-life threatening diseases but to have a COVID vaccine, i.e. a Pfizer or Moderna mRNA that will actually save you from dying is a gift from God,” she continued.

“We all know what to do: Wear your mask and even consider wearing two masks at the same time – they are more protective according to the CDC. For example, wearing a surgical mask and then a cloth mask over it can reduce transmission of COVID particles by over 90%,” Nesheiwat added.

Many people who received the COVID vaccine still contracted the virus, which prompted then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky to recommend masking regardless of vaccination status, despite research showing the ineffectiveness of masking.

In August 2021, amid the controversy over school mask mandates, Nesheiwat said that children were being hospitalized by the Delta variant and advocated for people to get both the COVID and flu shots simultaneously.

In October 2021, in a reply comment to Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo saying that there wasn’t much evidence that masks stopped the spread of COVID, Nesheiwat wrote, “Masks have saved thousands of lives and prevented thousands of infections.”

However, in January 2023, an international research collaboration that reviewed several dozen rigorous studies of "physical interventions" against influenza and COVID through 2022 failed to find even a modest effect on infection or illness rates from masks of all qualities.

Nesheiwat also promoted the CDC’s recommendation of a third dose of the COVID vaccine in November 2021. As of January 2022, she was still recommending that people get both the COVID booster and flu shots. However, her tune had changed regarding social distancing and masks by the end of the year.

“We know and we’ve learned, lockdowns, the shutdowns, the social distancing, wearing the flimsy surgical or cloth mask, they are not effective. The key here is to understanding and knowing your risk and taking the steps to protect yourself. We know what works, we know what doesn’t work,” Nesheiwat said in December 2022.

“I have taken care of thousands of COVID patients on the front lines these past three years of the pandemic, so I can tell you I know firsthand what works. And it’s all about focusing on those who are at high-risk,” she added. Nesheiwat noted that it wasn’t young people who were dying from COVID, but patients who had other health issues and comorbidities.

“The lockdowns, the shutdowns, they do not work — they’re ineffective, and they actually cause more harm than good," she said.

Nesheiwat’s promotion of vaccines starkly contrasts with Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Kennedy has been long known to raise concerns about vaccines, often being labeled as an “anti-vaxxer.” He has rejected allegations that he is "anti-vaccine" and said he wanted to be more transparent on health and vaccine issues so Americans can make more informed decisions. The day after Election Day, Kennedy told NBC News, "I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccines.

"If vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away,” he said. “People ought to have choice, and that choice ought to be informed by the best information." "I’m going to make sure scientific safety studies and efficacy are out there, and people can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them," Kennedy added.

Daily Wire podcast host Michael Knowles remarked on X on Monday regarding Nesheiwat’s nomination to surgeon general, noting that the position “is largely symbolic, but that's the point. The job is to be the chief spokesman for public health in the country, and she was fantastically wrong in how she spoke about the most significant public health crisis of our lifetimes.”

Nesheiwat didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Trump has also nominated former Florida GOP congressman and physician Dave Weldon for director of the CDC and Dr. Marty Makary for the next Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner. Makary is known for pushing back on the COVID vaccine mandate. The Heritage Foundation praised Trump’s nominations of both Weldon and Makary on Monday.

Jay Richards, director of Heritage’s DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family, said in a statement on Monday, “Rep. Weldon has long been a champion for the lives of the ‘least among us,’ and Dr. Makary stood up to the madness that overtook our nation during the COVID pandemic, at a time when such a stance could destroy a scientist’s career. He’s been vindicated by subsequent events, but he spoke out when it was still a huge risk.”

Robert Moffit, a senior research fellow in Heritage’s Center for Health and Welfare Policy, also released a statement on Monday, saying, “Few medical professionals have been as insightful in restoring public trust in public health as Dr. Makary."

“With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he provided Congress and the public not only with sound scientific analysis of the deadly disease but also sound advice in responding to it. While the Biden-Harris administration tried to impose an unprecedented and illegal COVID vaccine mandate, Dr. Makary warned that such a draconian measure was both unnecessary and counterproductive.”