Public Health Fascism – Dr. Demetre Daskalakis

Zuletzt aktualisiert am 2. September 2025 von Ulrich Würdemann

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis war von 2020 bis August 2025 in Führungspositionen an den US-amerikanischen CDC. u.a. als Leiter der Abteilung HIV-Prävention und später als Direktor der National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). Während der Präsidentschaft von Joe Biden war er stellvertretender Koordinator im Weißen Haus für MPox.

Nach dem Sturz der CDC-Direktorin Susan Monarez durch die Trump-Administration trat Daskalakis im August 2025 gemeinsam mit anderen hochrangigen CDC-Führungskräften zurück. Als Grund gab er Medien gegenüber u.a. an, die Wissenschaft werde kompromittiert.

In einem Interview mit Mark S. King (publiziert auf POZ am 1.9.25) äußerte er sich kurz darauf u.a. zur Frage des ‚public health fascism‘:

[POZ] I have friends that still give me a little side-eye when I use the phrase “fascist regime,” as if I am overstating things, but you have said it quite boldly in more than one interview.

[Daskalakis] It’s in my cultural genetics, frankly. My grandfather was killed in front of my dad in Greece when he was fighting the resistance in his village in Greece. Today, my village is being attacked and that village is the people that I serve. I know what that is about.

I don’t think many people think of fascism and public health as having much to do with each other.

Public health is really interesting because, though it’s really important, it’s softer, in terms of the science of protecting people’s health. It’s driven by guidance and interpretation. When ideology  penetrates into science you are able to diverge the path of science. We’re seeing a subtle eroding of confidence in scientific expertise. It’s not hard to blend ideology into public health and then come up with messages that are absolutely incorrect, and that support an agenda rather than science

Your resignation letter criticizes public policy that is “designed to hurt” people instead of helping them. What possible advantage is there in hurting public health? Who benefits from such a thing?

I think that’s a great question for Secretary Kennedy, I wish I knew his motivation. He promised to enter HHS with no preconceived notions, and introduced his notion of “radical transparency” and “gold standard science.” Well, speaking of fascism, those phrases are just mottos. Those are just words, and antithetical to what he’s actually doing. When I call it radical transparency and then provide no transparency, I speak it into being. If I call science that is not good science “gold standard,” I have called it into existence as gold standard. Using false truth. 

Das Interview endet mit einem Ratschlag:

My advice when something unhinged happens is to lick your wounds quickly and move on. That’s my advice.

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis ist schwul. Er wuchs in Washingtin D.C. und in Virginia auf.
Vor seiner Tätigkeit für die CDC war er in New York in der Gesundheitsverwaltung; in der Szene wurde er u.a. für seine sex-positiven Ansätze bekannt. In New York war er u.a. Mitglied der ‚Ending the Epidemic Task Force‘ von Gouverneur Cuomo.