The White House nixed a planned cable news appearance for economic adviser Peter Navarro after he wrote an op-ed against Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Navarro was pulled from a scheduled appearance on CNN host Wolf Blitzer’s Wednesday show a day after taking out an opinion piece in USA Today criticizing Fauci and titling his article, “Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.”
“I should point out that Peter Navarro was booked to join me this hour here in The Situation Room, but earlier this morning, all of a sudden, the White House told us he was no longer available,” Wolf Blitzer said on-air after CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta gave a report on the controversy.
President Trump, who on Monday shared anti-Fauci posts on Twitter, reacted to the op-ed by saying Navarro “shouldn’t be doing that.“
“The Peter Navarro op-ed didn’t go through normal White House clearance processes and is the opinion of Peter alone. @realDonaldTrump values the expertise of the medical professionals advising his Administration,” said White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah in a statement on Twitter.
During a phone call with reporters on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence reportedly described Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as a “valued member” of the White House Coronavirus Task Force amid public criticism from White House officials of the health expert.
“Dr. Tony Fauci is a valued member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. We just completed our latest meeting today. And we couldn’t be more grateful for his steady counsel as we continue to meet this moment with a whole of government approach, a whole of America approach,” he said on the call.
The same afternoon, Pence also tweeted a photograph of him with Fauci and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
