White House business adviser Peter Navarro broke into Dr. Anthony Fauci in an impressive op-ed on Wednesday, saying that the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has been a leading voice in the Force de Coronavirus task, has been “wrong about everything.”
“Dr. Anthony Fauci has good manners with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with,” Navarro wrote in an opinion piece for USA Today.
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Navarro began by saying that Fauci “fought” Trump’s “brave decision” in late January to suspend flights from China when the new coronavirus began to spread, arguing that that decision “could well have saved hundreds of thousands of American lives.” .
He continued: “When I warned in late January in a memorandum of a potentially deadly pandemic, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was telling our media not to worry.”
In addition, he wrote that in February, “Fauci was telling the public that China’s virus was low risk.” Navarro complained that Fauci was “flip-flopping in the use of masks”.
He criticized Fauci for minimizing the drop in death rates, amid debate over whether companies should be able to reopen or remain closed. Navarro added: “So when you ask me if I listen to Dr. Fauci’s advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution.”
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Navarro’s comments come as tensions have been bubbling between the White House and Fauci. Officials reportedly worried last week about the number of times Fauci “was wrong.”
However, a senior administration official told Fox News that Navarro’s opinion piece hitting Fauci “was definitely not approved by the White House.”
Another White House official told Fox News that Navarro is “going rogue.”
Alyssa Farah, director of strategic communications for the White House, said on Twitter that the piece “did not go through the normal White House approval processes and is Peter’s opinion alone.”
She said President Trump “values the experience of medical professionals who advise his administration.”
Trump, for his part, has said that Fauci is “a good man, but he has made many mistakes,” and has criticized him for his round-trip guidance on masks.
“I do not agree with him. You know, Dr. Fauci said ‘don’t wear masks’, and now he says ‘put them on’. And you know, he’s said a lot of things, “Trump said in an interview last week with Greta Van Susteren.” ‘Don’t close China. Don’t ban China. And I did it anyway. “
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He added: “I did not listen to my experts and I banned China.”
The president last week also said he had a “very good relationship” with Fauci, while saying, “I don’t always agree with him.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, in an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Monday, described Fauci as representing “a point of view within the administration.”
“The objective of the working group is for the entire government to analyze what is best for this country,” he said. “That includes Dr. Fauci’s opinion … Ultimately, those conclusions are brought to the President.”
McEnany added: “Dr. Fauci is a member of a team, but you can be sure that his point of view is represented and the information reaches the president through the task force.”
Fox News’ Kristin Fisher contributed to this report.
