Scott Atlas

Following the announcement of new COVID restrictions in Michigan, Atlas urged residents to 'rise up'. The message was widely interpreted as encouraging defiance of public health authorities and was condemned by Stanford's leadership, the Hoover Institution's management and the Faculty Senate, which adopted a censure resolution. In 2024, the Faculty Senate refused to rescind the censure.

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After joining the White House, Atlas advocated targeted protection for vulnerable people, reopening and acceptance of a substantial number of infections in low-risk groups. He publicly stated that many cases among low-risk people contributed to 'population immunity'. Health officials and the WHO denounced an approach resembling a natural herd immunity strategy that could lead to numerous deaths.

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In August 2020, the CDC changed its recommendations to indicate that certain exposed but asymptomatic people did not necessarily need testing. Federal officials subsequently stated that Atlas had strongly pressed to limit such testing. The recommendation provoked an outcry among public health specialists and was reversed in September.

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Atlas made highly categorical statements about children's limited role in transmitting SARS-CoV-2, including a claim that children 'don't even transmit the disease'. YouTube removed an interview containing these remarks under its rules on misleading medical information, while evidence showed that children could transmit the virus.

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Atlas posted a message on Twitter beginning 'Masks work? NO', accompanied by arguments against general mask mandates. Twitter removed the message for violating its rules on misleading COVID information. The episode reinforced criticism of a presidential adviser challenging a measure recommended by numerous health authorities.

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Atlas suggested that a substantial proportion of the population might have pre-existing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 owing to T cells reactive to other coronaviruses. Immunologists responded that the presence of reactive T cells did not demonstrate protection against infection and could not be counted as an already immune proportion when calculating herd immunity.

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Dozens of Stanford medical faculty members published a letter criticising several public claims made by Atlas about COVID-19. Atlas, who was not a member of the medical faculty but a fellow at the Hoover Institution, threatened to sue the authors for defamation, prompting debate over academic freedom, scientific responsibility and the use of legal threats in scientific controversy.

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Atlas gave an interview to RT, a Russian state-funded outlet registered in the United States under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, in which he criticised lockdowns and presented an optimistic interpretation of the pandemic. He subsequently apologised, claiming that he had been unaware of the outlet's status when he accepted the interview.

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Atlas's time at the White House was marked by clashes with Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx, Robert Redfield and other officials over testing, masks, restrictions and herd immunity. He resigned in late November 2020, shortly before the usual duration of his special government employee status expired.

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