As Trump Defunds The Agency, Lady Gaga Calls WHO Chief A True ‘Superstar’

Lady Gaga praised the World Health Organization’s director-general just days after President Trump announced the U.S. would halt funding over the agency’s handling of the coronavirus.

The pop icon gushed over Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press conference ahead of Saturdays “One World: Together at Home” fundraising concert

She said the organization’s chief was a true “superstar” and thanked him for his contributions amid the covid-19 pandemic. She also praised the media.

Fox News reports: “Dr. Tedros, you’re truly a superstar,” Gaga said during the WHO’s daily briefing while promoting the virtual benefit concert “One Wolrd: Together at Home” for which she partnered with the WHO and Global Citizen. “Thank you so much to the media for telling the stories of all of these medical professionals and getting the word out about how underresourced their systems are.”

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is facing scrutiny — including calls for his resignation — over what the White House calls the organization’s “mismanagement” of the crisis — and allegations that it failed to demand accurate data from China regarding the pandemic’s origins in Wuhan.

Trump also claimed Tuesday that the WHO put “political correctness over lifesaving measures” and said the organization made the “disastrous” decision to oppose travel restrictions on China like the one Trump imposed in late January.

“The WHO repeatedly covered up for China and parroted the Chinese government’s claims that there was no human-to-human transmission,” Kayleigh McEnany, the new White House press secretary, tweeted Wednesday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S. and a key member of Trump’s coronavirus task force, has said misinformation from China, repeated by the WHO, had affected initial U.S. response efforts.

The U.S. is the WHO’s largest donor.