Dr. Anthony Fauci shut down a reporter after being asked if he was pressured by President Trump to clarify remarks he had made about the coronavirus response.
Over the weekend, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that he received pushback when he was advising the president and his administration about closing down parts of the country during the pandemic. Fauci clarified that he did not get any pushback from Trump, who he claimed has accepted his advice throughout the outbreak.
A reporter pushed back on Fauci’s claims, asking, “In the interview, you said there was pushback. Where did that pushback come from?”
“That was the wrong choice of words,” Fauci explained. “You know what it was, when people discuss — not necessarily in front of the president — when people discuss, they say, ‘Well, this is going to have maybe a harmful effect on this or that.’ So, it was a poor choice of words. It wasn’t anybody saying, ‘No, you shouldn’t do this.'”
The reporter responded, “Are you doing this involuntarily or did the president —”
Fauci cut her off, saying, “No. Everything I do is voluntarily, please. Don’t even imply that.”
The relationship between Fauci and Trump has been called into question after the president retweeted a post that included the hashtag “FireFauci” attached. The White House denied that Trump had any intention of firing Fauci after being questioned about the tweet.
