President Donald Trump suggested early Monday morning that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a prominent member of the White House’s COVID-19 task force, will be on the chopping block after Election Day on Tuesday.
During Trump’s campaign rally in Opa-Locka, Florida, his supporters began chanting “Fire Fauci!” after the President complained for the umpteenth time about the media covering the pandemic.
Trump allowed the chants to continue for over 10 seconds before they petered out.
“Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait til a little bit after the election,” he said. “I appreciate the advice.”
The comment was met with loud cheers from the crowd.
Over the past several weeks, Trump has been ramping up his attacks against Fauci as the doctor pushes back against the President’s falsely optimistic portrayal of the coronavirus. Fauci also drew Trump’s ire after the former criticized how the President’s campaign had used soundbites from the health official out of context and without his permission.
A resentful Trump called Fauci a “disaster” during a call with his campaign aides two weeks ago, and he has also publicly attacked the doctor via Twitter.
And on Sunday, White House spokesperson Judd Deere torched Fauci for stating that Democratic candidate Joe Biden was “taking [COVID-19] seriously from a public health perspective” while Trump was “looking at it from a different perspective.”
“It’s unacceptable and breaking with all norms for Dr. Fauci, a senior member of the President’s Coronavirus Taskforce and someone who has praised President Trump’s actions throughout this pandemic, to choose three days before an election to play politics,” Deere said in a fiery statement.
“As a member of the Task Force, Dr. Fauci has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy, but he’s not done that, instead choosing to criticize the president in the media and make his political leanings known by praising the president’s opponent — exactly what the American people have come to expect from The Swamp,” the White House official added.
Watch Trump below:
Trump hints at firing Fauci after Election Day. pic.twitter.com/u0hKml5sjL
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) November 2, 2020
Not if we fire you first.
That would be the least surprising news after the election.
He needs the vacation. He’ll be plenty busy when Biden brings him back on.
Of course he’s going to fire him. He’s going to fire everyone who he has deemed wronged him, which is a list a mile long. Win or lose, he’ll at least attempt to fire a third of the gov’t workforce.
I suspect Biden will simply rehire him.
A public health official making a claim about public health is “playing politics”. Gotta love the GOP playbook and their buzz words. Somehow this is effective messaging on large swaths of the country. Sad
Make Ivanka his “Acting” replacement. One last grift before you’re gone.
(The country will thank you, sir.)