CNN host Chris Cuomo fretted about whether Dr. Anthony Fauci will be allowed to stay in the Trump administration.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, did not appear in the daily coronavirus press briefing on Monday following several statements from some of President Trump’s other advisers suggesting that the economy is more important than the response to COVID-19. During his show hours later, Cuomo suggested that Fauci wasn’t allowed to attend because he disagreed with the president.
“Do you know what is more dangerous than COVID? Telling the truth about Trump as a member of the executive branch. No one survives that. Why put Fauci in a position of having to admit that Trump is wrong or lying when we already know that to be the case?” Cuomo argued.
Trump noted during the two-hour-long press conference that Fauci did not attend because he was leading a White House task force meeting that was taking place at the same time. Dr. Deborah Birx, a top doctor on the task force, did attend the meeting and answered the specific medical questions that were asked.
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Cuomo said he thinks the public needs to hear from Fauci in every meeting.
“Not seeing Dr. Anthony Fauci on stage today worried me, and it should worry you. You know the doctor now. He’s a member of the coronavirus task force, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But more than that, he has become like America’s grandpa,” Cuomo explained. “He gives conscious and comfort and fact to this country and uniquely so.”
