TRUMP FIRES ALL REMAINING MEMBERS ON HIS HIV/AIDS COUNCIL

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

President Trump, pictured with Vice President Mike Pence, fired all remaining 16 members on his HIV/AIDS advisory council.(JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS)

Without explanation, the White House fired all 16 members of President Trump's advisory council on HIV and AIDS earlier this week. 

The across-the-board axing was announced in a letter delivered via FedEx to the members and comes as the Trump administration already faces flak for how it deals with LGBTQ issues.

Patrick Sullivan, who was appointed to a four-year term on the council in May 2016, told the Daily News that he received the letter on Friday. He said it "politely recognized" his service but gave no reason for why he had been let go.

Sullivan, who's a professor at Emory University specializing in HIV research, did not explicitly criticize the administration's decision to fire him. 

"But I'll be upset and I will speak up if I ever felt that there were policies advanced or approaches to education taken that would impact people's lives," Sullivan said.

Other now-former members of the council showed less restraint.

"No respect for their service," Scott Schoettes, a Chicago-based HIV scientist, tweeted in response to the news. "Dangerous that #Trump and Co. (Pence esp.) are eliminating few remaining people willing to push back against harmful policies, like abstinence-only sex ed."

Schoettes and five other members stepped down from the council in June, claiming in a scathing letter that Trump "simply does not care" about HIV research and the LGBTQ community.

The council, which is made up of unpaid specialists, has advised the White House on HIV and AIDS policies since its founding in 1995.

Participants march during the New York City Pride March through Manhattan this summer. (JAMES KEIVOM/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

In a second tweet on Friday, Schoettes speculated that the firings are part of an administration-wide "purge," citing reports that the Centers for Disease Control was recently banned from using words like "diversity," "transgender" and "vulnerable."

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Since Schoettes' resignation, Trump has come under additional fire over his failure to mention LGBTQ people in his statements recognizing National HIV Testing Day and World AIDS Day.

Last week, the President landed in even hotter water amid reports he had claimed that all Haitians "have AIDS" during a heated Oval Office meeting about immigration.

Sullivan, the Emory University professor, said he hopes the administration will appoint new council members who genuinely care about HIV issues.

Many were not as hopeful.

"Trump began the month by erasing LGBTQ people from his World AIDS Day statement, and ends it by firing all remaining members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS," Sarah Ellis, CEO of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, tweeted. "Trump has made a continuous effort to erase LGBTQ people and people living with HIV from the fabric of our country."