Alex Sprague

Acting Director O'Neill — you're stepping into CDC amid leadership turmoil. That's when a director earns trust by getting facts right and backing the scientists who do the work. Instead, you opened with claims that don't survive basic fact-checking. You say CDC "manipulated health data." This is dangerous rhetoric from someone who should be defending the institution. The agency just suffered a violent attack, and your response is to amplify the conspiracy theories that fuel such extremism. Accusing career scientists of manipulation without evidence erodes what fragile public trust remains.. You say "we stopped the Texas measles outbreak." False. Texas state health officials led that response and publicly declared the outbreak over. Taking federal credit after the fact rewrites the record. You say you've deployed "new screening technology for foreign travelers." No. CDC's Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance has run since 2021; expansions pre-date your tenure. You didn't invent it. You say you "ended misuse of the childhood immunization schedule." This is misleading. CDC issues evidence-based recommendations; states set school-entry requirements. Schedules are not mandates. Public trust isn't rebuilt by rewriting the record. It's rebuilt by telling the truth, respecting transparent methods, and letting experts do their jobs. Also: it's @CDCgov and @HHSgov.