N. Carolina treasurer criticizes Dr. Mandy Cohen as Biden administration mulls CDC appointment

North Carolina treasurer and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dale Folwell is criticizing the state’s former top public health official amid talk of her appointment as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Last Friday, Folwell tweeted “My observation is that the actions of Dr. Mandy Cohen during Covid resulted in more disease, death, poverty and illiteracy.” He said if he were to be elected governor he’d be “hard pressed to ever follow her lead at CDC.”

Cohen served as the head of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services from 2017 to 2021. The New York Times reported last week that she is in talks to replace Dr. Rochelle Walensky as director of the CDC, though the appointment has not been confirmed. 

In a statement in response to her potential selection, Governor Roy Cooper praised Cohen, saying she helped “lead North Carolina through the pandemic to be among the states with the lowest deaths and job losses per capita.”

Folwell’s tweet came from his campaign account. Folwell is vying for the GOP nomination for governor in a field that includes Lt. Governor Mark Robinson and former Republican Congressman Mark Walker.