Almost 3,500 public health experts across the country signed a letter in support of Dr. Anthony Fauci after he became the subject of attacks from within the Trump administration.
The letter, signed last week, specifically noted an op-ed written by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro that accused Fauci of being “wrong” on everything the two discussed together and a Washington Post article that reported on the rocky relationship between Fauci and other White House officials handling the pandemic.
“This week and last, the White House mounted a campaign to discredit one of our nation’s leading scientific experts, Dr. Anthony Fauci,” the letter read. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, he has remained one of the world’s most trusted scientists on COVID-19, daily explaining in lay terms the complexity of an illness we still don’t fully understand. And he has done so by placing science front and center in the public discourse. Attempting to marginalize highly respected researchers such as Dr. Fauci is a dangerous distraction at a time when we most need voices like his.”
Along with being the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci serves on the White House Coronavirus Task Force. His approach to the pandemic, which at times has clashed with President Trump’s timeline to reopen the economy, has made him the subject of scorn by some. In recent months, Fauci has been prompted to increase security around him due to an influx of death threats.
Among those who signed the letter include two former commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration, two former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a former secretary from the Health and Human Services Department, and a former surgeon general, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
“As current and former public health officials, researchers, and public health professionals, we call on our political leaders, members of the media and all Americans to reject the sidelining of science, to speak out against the silencing of scientists, and to champion open and public scientific discussions of the issues facing our country as we struggle to make progress against the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic,” the letter read.
“For that, we need the clear voices of government experts, including Dr. Fauci, to be available to the American public without limitation. That is the only path that can bring success in our efforts to control the virus,” it added.
