Trump Retweets Call to Fire Fauci After He Accuses Him of Ignoring Experts
Fauci accused Trump of ignoring his advice to institute social distancing
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President Donald Trump retweeted a post which highlighted Dr. Anthony Fauci accusing the president of ignoring medical experts with the hashtag #FireFauci.
During an interview with CNN on Sunday, Fauci accused Trump of ignoring his advice to institute social distancing in mid-February during, saying that lives “could have been saved.”
Trump, however, did not comment directly on Fauci.
A video from February 29 resurfaced of Fauci telling Americans they did not need to alter their behavior for the coronavirus.
Former GOP congressional candidate DeAnna Lorriane tweeted:
“Fauci is now saying that had Trump listened to the medical experts earlier, he could’ve saved more lives. Fauci was telling people on February 29th that there was nothing to worry about, and it posed no threat to the US public at large. Time to #FireFauci…”
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Trump retweeted, adding:
“Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up. Thank you @OANN"
Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up. Thank you @OANN https://t.co/d40JQkUZg5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2020
Below is the transcript via CNN:
TAPPER: “The New York Times” reported yesterday that you and other top officials wanted to recommend social and physical distancing guidelines to President Trump as far back as the third week of February, but the administration didn’t announce such guidelines to the American public until March 16, almost a month later.
Why?
FAUCI: You know, Jake, as I have said many times, we look at it from a pure health standpoint. We make a recommendation. Often, the recommendation is taken. Sometimes, it’s not.
But we — it is what it is. We are where we are right now.
TAPPER: Do you think lives could have been saved if social distancing, physical distancing, stay-at-home measures had started the third week of February instead of mid-March?
FAUCI: You know, Jake, again, it’s what would have, what could have.
It’s — it’s very difficult to go back and say that. I mean, you could logically say, that if you had a process that was ongoing, and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. Obviously, no one is going to deny that.
Fauci: February 29 pic.twitter.com/PxwbdQ5WSu
— Steph (@steph93065) April 12, 2020
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But what goes into those kinds of decisions is — is complicated. But you’re right. I mean, obviously, if we had, right from the very beginning, shut everything down, it may have been a little bit different.
But there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then.
Last week, Fauci claimed that the world might never return to the “normal” after COVID-19.
Although the doctor said the world would gradually begin functioning as a society again, he said the looming threat of the virus will always be there.
"When we get back to normal, we will go back to the point where we can function as a society,” he said.
"If you want to get back to pre-coronavirus, that might not ever happen in the sense that the threat is there," he added.
Meanwhile, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates revealed he is spending billions of dollars building factories to produce a vaccine.
Gates said he is pumping cash into development, and seven vaccine makers have already secured funding.
In February, the billionaire warned that the coronavirus could be a "once-in-a-century pathogen we've been worried about."
