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Source: PA Images
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump suggested that he will fire the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, after Tuesday’s election.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Opa-locka, Florida, Trump expressed frustration that the growing cases of coronavirus that have killed more than 230,000 Americans so far this year remain prominent in the news.
In response to chants of “Fire Fauci” from his supporters, Trump told his supporters that he appreciated their “advice” and added: “Don’t tell anyone, but let me wait until a little after the election.”
Trump signed an executive order late last month that allows him to fire a class of federal employees, including Dr. Fauci, but he has yet to comply with the order.
Trump’s comments on Dr. Fauci less than 48 hours before the polls close almost ensure that his handling of the pandemic will remain front and center heading into Election Day.
It’s the most blunt Trump has ever been in suggesting that he was serious about trying to remove Dr. Fauci from office. He had previously expressed that he was concerned about the political backlash in removing the popular and respected doctor before the elections.
Trump’s comments come after Dr. Fauci launched his sharpest criticism yet of the White House response to the coronavirus and Trump’s public claim that the nation is “turning around” the virus.
Trump at his campaign rally in Florida.
Source: AP / Jim Rassol
Dr. Fauci has become outspoken that Trump has ignored his advice to contain the virus, saying he has not spoken to Trump in over a month. It has raised the alarm that the nation is headed for a challenging winter if not done sooner to curb the spread of the disease.
In an interview with the Washington Post this weekend, Dr. Fauci warned that the United States will have to deal with “a lot of damage” in the coming weeks due to the increase in coronavirus cases.
Dr. Fauci said the United States “could not be in a poorer position” to stem the increase in cases as more people flock indoors during the colder fall and winter months. He says the United States will have to make an “abrupt change” in public health precautions.
Dr. Fauci added that he believed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden “is taking it seriously from a public health perspective,” while Trump “sees it from a different perspective.”
Dr Fauci, who is part of the White House coronavirus task force, said that perspective emphasizes “the economy and the reopening of the country.”
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Dr. Fauci says Joe Biden is taking the coronavirus seriously from a public health perspective.
Source: AP / Andrew Harnik
In response, White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump always puts the welfare of the people first and Deere claims that Dr. Fauci has decided to “go politics” just before Tuesday’s election. Deere said Dr. Fauci “has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy” but is instead “choosing to criticize the president in the media and make his political leanings known.”
Trump in recent days has stepped up his attacks on Biden for pledging to follow the advice of scientists to respond to the pandemic. Trump has claimed that Biden would “lock down” the nation again. Biden has promised to heed the warnings of Dr. Fauci and other medical professionals, but has not endorsed another national shutdown.
Trump has recently relied on the advice of Stanford physician Scott Atlas, who has no prior experience in infectious disease or public health, as his top scientific adviser on the pandemic. Dr. Atlas has been a public skeptic about the use of masks and other measures widely accepted by the scientific community to slow the spread of the virus.
Other members of the White House coronavirus task force have become increasingly vocal about what they see as a dangerous fall spike of the virus.
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