On Monday night, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci rejected the possibility of President Donald Trump removing him from the White House COVID-19 task force.
“I was with him for quite a while today,” the doctor told C-Span Washington Journal host Steven Scully. “He has no intention of doing that.”
Speculation about Fauci’s potential ouster arose after Trump retweeted a post on Sunday night declaring that the doctor ought to be fired for telling CNN anchor Jake Tapper that lives would’ve been saved in the coronavirus outbreak if the federal government had put out social distancing guidelines in February.
Fauci shrugged off the tweet on Monday, saying that the person who posted it was likely upset by his response to Tapper’s question on taking action on the COVID-19 pandemic sooner.
“Somebody didn’t like the way I answered it, so they hashtagged it ‘FireFauci.’ That’s it. That’s the world we live in,” the doctor said. “I accept it. Doesn’t bother me.”
After Trump’s retweet, White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley denied that the President was planning to oust Fauci, and that the doctor “has been and remains a trusted advisor” to Trump.
Watch Fauci below:
Fauci says Trump has "no intention" of firing him. pic.twitter.com/sjLtrkiK1i
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) April 14, 2020
