Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is the latest
Trump Administration official revealed to have criticized the president's post-election actions.
Azar sent the
White House a departure letter earlier this week, and while he clarified he'll continue in his role until Jan. 20, when President-elect
Joe Biden assumes office, he had harsh words for
President Trump, particularly concerning his role in the deadly riot at the
United States Capitol on Jan. 6. "Unfortunately, these actions and rhetoric following the
election, especially during the past week, threaten to tarnish these and other historic legacies of this administration," he wrote, referring to the rapid creation of two vaccines to combat the
Coronavirus pandemic.
Azar said the riot was an "assault on our democracy and on the tradition of peaceful transitions of power" in the United States. Ultimately, though he stopped short of resigning. "With the pandemic raging, the continued need to deliver vaccines and therapeutics to the
American people, and the imperative of ensuring a smooth transition to the Biden administration, I have determined that it is in the best interest of the people we serve to remain as secretary until the end of the term," he explained. Read more at The Hill.