McConnell Says He Has ‘Total’ Faith In Fauci As WH Continues Efforts To Discredit Him

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 30: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks during a press conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon in the Hart Senate Office Building on June 30, 2020 in W... WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 30: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks during a press conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon in the Hart Senate Office Building on June 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. McConnell stated that a briefing could be arranged for Senators to get more information on the report that Russia offered bounty to the Taliban to kill American soldiers. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Wednesday threw his support behind Dr. Anthony Fauci as the White House continues its efforts to discredit the top official in its coronavirus task force.

When McConnell was asked during a press conference on Wednesday about his level of confidence in Fauci, after the Senate leader argued that Fauci has been the best source of advice since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, McConnell replied “total.”

McConnell’s support of Fauci comes on the heels of White House officials launching efforts to further discredit Fauci. On Sunday, an unnamed White House aide sent news outlets a list of Fauci’s past comments on the coronavirus that later turned out to be inaccurate. The aide wrote that “several” White House officials are “concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things,” according to reports in the Washington PostNBC News and CNN.

White House trade official Peter Navarro and Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore joined the bandwagon bashing Fauci soon after.

On Monday, Moore told The Daily Beast that he and his organization the Committee to Unleash Prosperity have spent weeks crafting a memo against Fauci titled “Dr. Wrong.” The next day, Navarro penned a caustic USA Today op-ed that begins by claiming that Fauci “has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on” regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday afternoon, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany denied that its memo criticizing Fauci was the result of opposition research against the nation’s top infectious disease expert. McEnany insisted that the White House “provided a direct response to a direct question” and argued that the notion of the Trump administration launching an opposition research campaign against Fauci “couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Trump told reporters later Monday that he has had a “very good relationship” with Fauci “for a long time, right from the beginning.”

“I find him to be a very nice person,” Trump said on Monday. “I don’t always agree with him.”

McConnell isn’t the first Trump ally to come to Fauci’s defense, however.

When asked about the White House’s efforts to discredit Fauci during a press conference on Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) defended Fauci by arguing that “we don’t have a Dr. Fauci problem” and that “any effort to undermine him is not going to be productive, quite frankly.”

Watch McConnell’s remarks below:

Senate Mitch McConnell visits a hospital to express his gratitude for Kentucky’s front-line healthcare workers, as well as discuss the impact of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

Senator Mitch McConnell visits a hospital to express his gratitude for Kentucky’s front-line healthcare workers, as well as discuss the impact of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act): https://bit.ly/2ChbEUe

Posted by WZTV FOX 17 News, Nashville on Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. HHS has seized all rights to hospital data from the CDC. Sometime in the near future COVID fatalities will be down to 96,000.

  2. The question Mr McConnell really is: Do you still have faith in Donald Trump?

  3. So is Mitch thinking voters with a brain are gonna matter this fall? Interesting.

  4. They are trying to block the sun with a finger…the Chinese could not do it , the Russian could not do it, and they have people smarter than morons Kudlow and Navarro.

  5. Dr. Fauci worked to keep America safe!

    MoscowMitch worked to keep Trump in office!

    Meanwhile:

    https://www.heraldextra.com/news/opinion/national-editorials/reich-mcconnell-continues-to-be-trumps-biggest-enabler/article_0eb5aeee-4371-57ed-a6e2-8ca1e908372a.html

    McConnell and his fellow Senate Republicans don’t want to extend the bill’s extra-$600-a-week unemployment benefits, which were enacted in March but are due to expire on July 31.

    Yet McConnell and his ilk are happy to give away trillions of dollars in bailouts to Wall Street bankers and corporate executives. They quietly inserted into the last COVID relief bill a $170 billion windfall to Jared Kushner and other real estate moguls. Another $454 billion went to backing up a Federal Reserve program that benefits big business by buying up debt.

    Hey MoscowMitch…
    Where is are the HEROES Act pandemic aid to Mainstreet?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

67 more replies

Participants

Avatar for ajm Avatar for jw1 Avatar for robb_ludwig Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for dave48 Avatar for vonq Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for inversion Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for alyoshakaramazov1 Avatar for dickweed Avatar for darrtown Avatar for pshah Avatar for tena Avatar for jinnj Avatar for jmacaz Avatar for michaelryerson Avatar for greysea Avatar for rhs1963 Avatar for centralasiaexpat Avatar for skeptical Avatar for filmknight Avatar for virginia_yankee Avatar for emiliano4

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: