President Trump’s relationship with infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is under strain yet again as Trump tries to retake control of the coronavirus narrative.
“He’s got a very good approval rating, and I like that. It’s good,” Trump said during a press briefing at the White House Tuesday. “Because, remember, he’s working for this administration. He’s working with us. We could’ve gotten other people.”
Trump’s relationship with Fauci has appeared tense in recent weeks as Trump’s approval ratings, especially those tied to his response to the coronavirus pandemic, have dipped. Fauci has become the most prominent public health expert during the pandemic and sometimes has advice that differs from the president’s. Trump has recently resumed public press briefings about the pandemic from the White House, having halted daily press briefings in the spring.
Trump added, “He’s got this high approval rating, so why don’t I have a high approval rating … with respect to the virus?”
Fauci was forced to defend himself Tuesday after Trump shared allegations on Twitter that he “misled” the public about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
“The overwhelming prevailing clinical trials that have looked at the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine have indicated that it is not effective in coronavirus disease,” Fauci said on Good Morning America.
Trump said Tuesday that he had not meant to say that Fauci misled the public, adding, “I think I don’t even know what his stance is on it.”
Among Trump’s retweets in support of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine was a video of doctors gathered in front of the Supreme Court in Washington to praise the benefits of using hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients. Twitter removed the tweet for violating coronavirus misinformation rules, but Trump reaffirmed his support Tuesday for the doctors’ testimonies.
“There was a group of doctors yesterday, a large group that were put on the internet, and for some reason, the internet wanted to take them down and took them off,” Trump said. “I don’t know why. I think they’re very respected doctors.”
Trump said one of the doctors, Stella Immanuel from Houston, was “spectacular in her statements about it” and has had “tremendous success” with the drug. When a reporter cited Immanuel’s statements that protective masks do not work and that there is a cure for COVID-19, Trump said, “I know nothing about her.”
“She was on-air, along with many other doctors, they were big fans of hydroxychloroquine, and I thought she was very impressive,” Trump said. “But she said that she’s had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients.”
Fauci also warned on Good Morning America, “We just can’t afford, yet again, another surge” such as those seen in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and other Sun Belt states in recent weeks. He stressed that wearing masks, social distancing, and proper hand hygiene are the best ways to stop the renewed spread.
“We would hope that [states] all now rethink what happens when you don’t adhere to that,” Fauci said.
In Arizona, Texas, and Florida, which have seen rapid case increases since June, new case surges have begun to stabilize.
Arizona reported more than 100 new known COVID-19 deaths and more than 2,100 new cases on Tuesday, while hospitalization rates continued their gradual decline. The deaths reported by the state health department on Tuesday may have occurred days or weeks prior, and, given slow test result turnaround times, new daily case reporting often represents cases that were identified days and weeks prior.
Florida reported over 9,200 new cases and 186 new deaths Tuesday. Texas confirmed roughly 4,000 new coronavirus cases and about 675 new deaths.
Across the United States, more than 4.3 million coronavirus infections have been confirmed, and over 148,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates told CNBC Tuesday that it’s crucial for students to return to school in the fall despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m a big believer that for young children, the benefits in almost every location — particularly if you can protect the teachers well — the benefits outweigh the costs,” he said on Squawk Box.
He added that the return to in-person schooling for high school students may not be as crucial as long as there will be continued learning online. He added that school administrators have to make sure that “minority students and low-income students aren’t suffering the most throughout all of this.”
The Senate GOP is struggling to unify around the next coronavirus economic aid package that Republican leaders negotiated with the White House as Trump administration officials have started talks with Democrats.
“It’s a mess,” Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley told the Washington Examiner after leaving a closed-door GOP meeting about the measure. “I’m not inclined to support it now. “
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters after the meeting that the 52 other Republicans in his conference “are all over the lot,” when it comes to providing a new round of aid, with “some members who think we have done enough and other members who think we need to do more.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of a likely “second wave” of COVID-19 cases across Europe Tuesday while defending the United Kingdom’s policy to impose quarantine restrictions on citizens returning from Spain, according to the Financial Times.
“Let’s be absolutely clear about what’s happening in Europe, among some of our European friends, I’m afraid you are starting to see in some places the signs of a second wave of the pandemic,” Johnson said.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez criticized Britain’s “unjust” policy earlier, saying that it would be safer to be in Ibiza, Majorca, and the Canary Islands — where there have been fewer COVID-19 cases than in mainland Spain — than in the U.K. right now.
Major League Baseball Tuesday suspended the season of the Miami Marlins through at least Sunday after 19 members of the team tested positive for the coronavirus. The announcement comes just one day after the Marlins canceled their home opener, which was scheduled for Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles.
“Given the current circumstances, MLB believes that it is most prudent to allow the Marlins time to focus on providing care for their players and planning their baseball operations for a resumption early next week,” stated the MLB website.
