WASHINGTON, DC – On the first day of his presidency, President Joe Biden today said his administration will promote racial equality.
“There’s no time to start like today,” Biden told reporters as he signed a racial equality executive order into law.
“Equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy, and our diversity is one of our country’s greatest strengths,” Biden’s executive order stated.
Then, he fired the nation’s most senior physician, a black man, demanding that U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams step down from his position. Adams’s crime was being a Trump appointee.
“I’ve been asked by the Biden team to step down as Surgeon General. It’s been the honor of my life to serve this Nation, and I will do all I can to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve and maintain health,” Adams said today.
Adams comes from humble beginnings, growing up as an African American on his family’s farm in Mechanicsville, Maryland. Overcoming the odds, he graduated high school in the top 5% of his class before attending college and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He received a full scholarship for his academic achievements and being a minority student with an interest in the sciences. He received his Master of Public Health degree from UC Berkeley and worked his way up the ranks to become the Indiana State Health Commissioner in 2014.
Now, he’s out of a job, like millions of other Americans after Biden fired him. No cause was given. He’s not the first black Surgeon General to be fired by a Democrat. In 1994, Bill Clinton fired America’s first Surgeon General, Jocelyn Elders. Elders suggested masturbation should be taught in schools. A radical concept in 1994, but a common practice in American schools today. It’s now called “Comprehensive Sexual Education”
Adams tendered his resignation as requested by Biden, ending the tenure of only the second African American man to hold that spot.
“Thank you for the opportunity to serve this great Nation, as this has been the honor of my life. Three years and five months ago, I was confirmed as just the 20th United States Surgeon General – and only the second-ever African American male to serve in that role,” Adams said. “My tenure started with three category 5 hurricanes barreling down on our citizens. I immediately deployed to witness the devastation first hand and to lead our Public Health Service Officers as we helped with the response. I saw the best of our Nation coming together in the worse of times, to help those who’d lost everything.”
Biden chose to reinstate Vivek Murthy to the position. Murthy was sacked by President Trump in 2017 to make way for Adams. Murthy served as Surgeon General under former President Barack Obama from 2013 through 2017. Adams was not offered any other role in the Biden Administration.