Trump’s move comes amid an effort by the White House to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci.
As the new coronavirus spreads across the country, leading to a record number of cases and an increase in deaths in several states, President Donald Trump shared a message on Twitter on Monday saying that doctors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are “lying”.
“The most outrageous lies are those of Covid 19,” wrote game host and conservative commentator Chuck Woolery, in a tweet that the president shared with his more than 83 million Twitter followers. “Everyone is lying. The CDC, the media, the Democrats, our doctors, not all but the majority, who we are told to trust. I think it is about the elections and preventing the economy from coming back. , that it’s about the elections. I’m sick of it. ”
Trump shared the message without comment or elaboration. There is no evidence that the CDC, a federal agency, or the doctors are “lying.”
The President also shared a critical message from the country’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“So, according to Dr. Fauci and the Democrats, will I need an ID card to go shopping but not to vote?” Mark Young, Woolery’s conservative co-host on podcast, wrote in a tweet also shared by Trump, without comment.
The tweet was probably a reference to an interview Fauci did in April with CNN in which he said immunity certificates were being discussed as a potential possibility. Immunity certificates or cards were being discussed at the time as a way to speed up the reopening, but in the months since the idea has lost importance as scientists struggle to understand how immunity to COVID-19 works and in half of the lagged testing capabilities in the United States.
The attacks on the country’s top infectious disease doctors and scientists, amid a pandemic, occurred when the White House has attempted to discredit Fauci, a member of his special coronavirus force.
Over the weekend, he provided a document to various media outlets containing a misleading list of comments made by Fauci, in an effort to damage his reputation.
Two senior White House sources told ABC News that Fauci has sometimes been referred to by Trump aides as “Dr. Gloom and Doom.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in an interview with Fox News Monday morning that Fauci was just “a member” of the White House coronavirus task force.
“The goal of the task force is to be a government-wide look at what’s best for this country,” he said, noting remarks the day before by a senior official from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Adm Brett Giroir, who told NBC News that Fauci does not “necessarily have all of the national interest in mind.
“That includes Dr. Fauci’s opinion, it includes that of Admiral Giroir, and ultimately those conclusions are brought to the President,” McEnany said. to the president through the working group. ”
Trump, who is facing reelection this year, faces strong disapproval for his management of the pandemic. In an ABC News / Ipsos poll released Friday, 67% of Americans said they disapproved of their monitoring of the crisis, a new low since ABC News / Ipsos began studying the coronavirus in March.
Fauci has had a higher approval rating than the president in national polls related to the response to the coronavirus.
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and John Santucci contributed reporting.
.
