Fauci Calls Trump’s ‘LIBERATE’ Tweets ‘A Punch To The Chest’

Chip Somodevilla / Getty
Chip Somodevilla / Getty
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

With former President Trump fading further into the distance, top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has been increasingly forthright about his frustrating experience battling the coronavirus pandemic in the previous administration.

Fauci told CNN on Sunday that one moment in particular during the early days of the COVID-19 spread had startled him.

The doctor was referring to Trump’s tweets calling on his supporters to “LIBERATE” several states where Democratic governors imposed COVID-19 mitigation protocols, including Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia. These states were also seeing armed protesters demonstrating against business closures and other efforts to contain the coronavirus.

“The thing that hit me like a punch to the chest was then all of a sudden he got up and says ‘liberate Virginia, liberate Michigan,’ and I said to myself, ‘oh my goodness, what is going on here.’ “It shocked me because it was such a jolt to what we were trying to do,” Fauci told CNN during a special program on the coronavirus.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. But never far enough.

  2. and I said to myself, ‘oh my goodness, what is going on here.’

    After three years of Trump maybe it should not have been a surprise, but I guess many of us had the same experience more than once a day.

  3. Avatar for mec mec says:

    “Oh my goodness” would definitely be the censored version of my inner monologue.

  4. Let’s spice it up:

    Oh, my goodness!

  5. Fauci deserves every Fed medal he hasn’t already received.

    Birx deserves scorn, or jail.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

130 more replies

Participants

Avatar for dr_coyote Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for jep07 Avatar for wordtoyamamma Avatar for clemmers Avatar for cervantes Avatar for trnc Avatar for becca656 Avatar for arrendis Avatar for bonvivant Avatar for sonsofares Avatar for joelopines Avatar for lastroth Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for evave2 Avatar for txlawyer Avatar for zenicetus Avatar for garrybee Avatar for paul_lukasiak Avatar for staggerlee Avatar for hardyweinberg Avatar for Volvo_Birkenstock Avatar for LeeHarveyGriswold

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: