Michael Caputo, the Trump loyalist who took a 60-day leave from his post as a Health and Human Services Department spokesman after telling supporters to 'buy ammunition,' has been diagnosed with neck and brain cancer.
Caputo burst into the headlines after the emergence of a Facebook video where he accused scientists of sedition. He has metastatic cancer, a state lawmaker said Thursday.
Doctors have diagnosed cancer in the head and neck, David DiPietro, a Republican state assemblyman in western New York who said he was acting as a spokesperson for Caputo, told reporters. The Buffalo News first reported the diagnosis.
The squamous cell carcinoma originated in Caputo's throat, DiPietro said. Caputo is now home in western New York with his family, the lawmaker said.
HHS spokesman Michael Caputo, who has gone on a 60-day medical leave, has been diagnosed with brain and neck cancer, according to a New York state lawmaker. He was directed to treatment by Centers for Disease Control head Dr. Robert Redfield, the Buffalo News reported
The Department of Health and Human Services had announced Sept. 16 that Caputo decided to take 60 days 'to focus on his health and the well-being of his family.'
The loyalist of President Donald Trump was installed as assistant secretary for public affairs by the White House in April at a time of tense relations with Health Secretary Alex Azar.
Caputo, who was born in Buffalo and has no health care background, has faced scrutiny in recent weeks over news reports that he tried to gain editorial control over a scientific weekly published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Caputo also hosted a video on his Facebook page in which he likened government scientists to a 'resistance' against Trump and warned that shooting would break out if Trump won reelection in November and Democratic rival Joe Biden refused to concede.
He blasted them as members of the 'deep state.'
'He is now home in Western New York, resting in the loving arms of his family, under the watchful eye of Jesus Christ,' a New York lawmaker said in a statement
CDC director Robert Redfield's remarks at a Senate hearing represent some of his strongest public reaction against efforts by members of the Trump administration to undermine and sideline his agency's globally-esteemed scientists
''There are scientists working for this government who do not want America to get better. Did you hear me? There are scientists who work for this government who do not want America to get well. Not until after Joe Biden is president. It's a fact,' he said.
Caputo got treatment at the National Cancer Institute. He went there 'at the urging of a Coronavirus Task Force doctor who noticed the lump,' the Buffalo News reported.
He said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Robert Redfield noticed the lump and urged him to get it examined.
The paper added that President Trump directed arrangements for him to be admitted at the top national facility.
'He is now home in Western New York, resting in the loving arms of his family, under the watchful eye of Jesus Christ,' DiPietro said.
'The Caputo family wants to thank President Donald Trump and [HHS] Secretary Alex Azar for their friendship and support,' DiPietro said.
He told the paper last week he discovered a 'walnut sized' lump on his neck. ''It's something I've been dealing with for months but didn't do anything about it, even though I work in a building full of doctors,' he said.
This week during congressional testimony Redfield hit back when asked about Caputo's comments.
'I want to add how disappointed I have been personally when people at HHS made comments that they felt that there was a 'deep state' down at CDC,' Redfield said.
'These are dedicated men and women that are confronting the greatest public health crisis of our time, working 24/7, over 6700 of them involved in the outbreak itself, 1200 deploying, and it's offensive to me when I hear this type of comment.'
He added that during his 20-year career in the military, he was never aware of his colleagues' political affiliations and the same was true of the CDC.
'People don't understand the ability to suck energy out of people that are working 24/7 when they get unfairly criticized or unfairly characterized and really that's the real harm in all of this,' he concluded.
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