President Trump made strikingly negative statements about virologist Fauci during a telephone conversation followed by journalists.
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During a phone call primarily intended to whip up his campaign team against his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, President Donald Trump messed up well-known American virologist Anthony Fauci. Trump complained about the team of top virologists advising the US government on the corona crisis, saying Fauci is “one of those idiots” who works there.
“People are tired of listening to Fauci and all those other idiots,” the president said casually, “but I can’t fire them. Whenever that Fauci is on television there is a ‘bomb’, but it “Would be an even bigger bomb if I fired him. I can’t fire him because of public perception.”
“Had we listened to Fauci, as many as 700,000 to 800,000 Americans would have died of the virus,” Trump concluded without substantiating his claim. “He’s a disaster.”
During the telephone conversation, some journalists listened. They were invited by Trump’s campaign team to provide exclusive coverage of the US election and the current president’s electoral battle against Joe Biden. “I don’t care, no, I don’t care,” Trump said when pointed out to the journalists’ presence.
Fauci served six presidents
According to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the frontal attack on Fauci is unacceptable in this time of crisis. “The number of infections in the US is peaking, but the president chooses to attack Fauci by calling him a disaster and an idiot, just as he has called the other advisers”, Biden said. “Mr. President, you are right about one thing: the American citizen is tired. Tired of your lies about the virus.”
The chairman of the Senate Committee, Republican Lamar Alexander, also stands up for Fauci. “He is one of the foremost public officials,” Alexander said on Twitter. “He has served six presidents, starting with Reagan. If more Americans heeded his advice, we would have fewer infections and it would be safer to go back to school and to work.”
Trump: “He’s been here 350 years, I don’t want to hurt him”
When Trump was asked about the uproar he had caused by his statements, his answer Monday evening (Belgian time) was short and patronizing: “Fauci is a very nice man … He gets a lot of time on television, yes, he comes on often. television. He likes that. We let him do what he wants. “
“Sometimes he says things that are a little bit strange and a little bit wrong,” he concluded. “But I don’t want to hurt him. He’s been here for 350 years, so I don’t want to hurt him.”
Mondmaskers
About 220,000 Americans have died in the United States since the start of the pandemic. Fauci was instrumental in communicating proposals for corona measures during the first months of the virus outbreak in the country. Trump publicly contradicted him several times and to date refuses to follow the measures proposed by Fauci and other top virologists – such as wearing a mouth mask.
Trump’s chief medical advisor is Scott Atlas. The latter saw his tweet about wearing mouth masks being removed by Twitter itself on Monday.
“Mouth masks work? NO, “Atlas said in the deleted tweet. The message also contained a link to an article by the American Institute for Economic Research think tank questioning the effectiveness of face masks. Twitter said to the US channel. CNN that the tweet was removed for violating the rules on spreading false and harmful information.
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