Conservative commentator Mark Levin suggested President Trump should fire Dr. Anthony Fauci as a leading member of the White House task force fighting the pandemic after his comments saying coronavirus testing in the United States is “totally unacceptable.”
“Fauci damns himself!” Levin tweeted Wednesday. “If testing is ‘totally unacceptable,’ then Fauci should be fired! He acts like he’s a uninvolved TV commentator rather than one of the top government bureaucrats-scientists in charge of preparing for pandemics.”
2. I mean, he’s only been around for 52 years!https://t.co/9uKZpCQj3g
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 5, 2020
Earlier on Wednesday, Fauci made an appearance on CNN in which he criticized the federal government’s response to the coronavirus as it relates to the availability of testing.
During the interview, host Sanjay Gupta told Fauci he was unable to secure a coronavirus test to administer to a patient before performing an operation.
“You are a real-world example of why we’ve got to do better. I mean, to say, and I know, I’ve been in situations like that. I can get things done medically so fast it’ll spin your head,” Fauci responded. “There you were in the operating room having to put on PPE because you didn’t know if your patient — I mean, for me, that is totally unacceptable, and for me to say anything different is distorting reality.”
The United States has conducted more than 63 million coronavirus tests since February, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On March 13, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar designated Adm. Brett Giroir to coordinate COVID-19 diagnostic testing efforts. Fauci has acted as a front man of sorts for the White house task force, making dozens of appearances on cable and network news and participating in briefings with reporters during the early days of the pandemic.
Trump has broken publicly with Fauci’s analysis or recommendations regarding the virus, most recently on how much testing is needed to understand the pandemic’s trajectory fully as the year goes on.
“You know, there are those that say you can test too much,” Trump said this week during an interview with Axios.
Some in the media have attempted to discredit Fauci, pointing out inaccuracies in statements or predictions he made during the pandemic’s early stages, such as the effectiveness of masks and Trump’s decision to ban travel from China in late January.
Levin argued Fauci, a veteran public health official who aided the U.S. response to AIDS and the SARS epidemic, should know better than to criticize a federal government response effort he is helping lead.
“I mean, he’s only been around for 52 years!” Levin said.
