Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and a leading expert in the coronavirus, has found himself in the cross-hairs of President Donald Trump.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Fauci appeared daily during the president’s briefings about the virus.
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In recent interviews, Fauci has stated that he has not spoken to President Trump in weeks.
According to a new report from CNN, the president’s central office recently issued a statement that said, “several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things.”
The article stated that the White House provided a “lengthy” list of several of Fauci’s comments early on including a quote from March when he said, “people should not be walking around with masks.”
The president has recently spoken out against Fauci in numerous recent interviews, he recently said in an interview with Sean Hannity that “Dr. Fauci is a nice man, but he’s made a lot of mistakes.”
For his part, Fauci has also been doing interviews. He told the Financial Times, “I have a reputation, as you probably have figured out, of speaking the truth at all times and not sugar-coating things.” He also said, “And that may be one of the reasons why I haven’t been on television very much lately.”
Dr. Fauci has been the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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President Trump has recently continued to disagree with Fauci publicly. He responded to the doctor’s claim that America is still “knee-deep in the first wave” of the coronavirus pandemic, saying, “I think we are in a good place. I disagree with him.”
Democratic House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said that by “sidelining (Fauci) the President is once again interfering with an effective response to this pandemic.”
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