In a pandemic marred by mixed messaging, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he thinks the public should turn to medical authorities for questions.
Fauci, who is the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a Tuesday interview that he thinks he can be counted among those people should trust during the global health crisis.
“For the most part, you can trust respected medical authorities. I believe I’m one of them, so I think you can trust me,” he said during the interview. “But I would stick with respected medical authorities who have a track record of telling the truth, who have a track record of giving information and policy and recommendations based on scientific evidence and good data.”
“I believe, for the most part, you can trust respected medical authorities,” Dr. Anthony Fauci says. “I believe I’m one of them, so I think you can trust me.”
His comments come as the White House has sought to undermine Fauci and criticized the CDC. https://t.co/6k1tIQcR51 pic.twitter.com/6zEp0DUk0L
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 14, 2020
The remarks come as he and President Trump’s relationship has become more and more distant. Several news outlets recently received a statement attributed to an unnamed White House official that included a list of examples the person said showed how Fauci “has been wrong on things.” The doctor also recently revealed that he hasn’t briefed Trump on the pandemic in more than two months.
Trump also retweeted a conspiracy theory on Tuesday from a former game show host alleging that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the media, doctors, and Democrats are all “lying” about COVID-19 because of the upcoming presidential election. Fauci reiterated during the Tuesday interview that the public should rely on information from “respected medical authorities.”
“So, if I were to give advice to you and your family and friends of your family, I would say that’s the safest to do — to listen to the recommendations from that category of people,” Fauci said. “But it’s entirely understandable how the public can get mixed messages and then get a bit confused about what they should do.”
