White House business adviser Peter Navarro harshly criticized Tuesday Anthony Fauci
Anthony FauciTexas Democrat Proposes Legislation Requiring Masks At Federal Facilities Night Health Care: White House Goes Public With Attacks On Fauci | Newsom Orders California to Close Indoor Activities, All Bar Operations | Federal judges block abortion ban laws in Tennessee, Georgia Biden campaign criticizes White House attacks on Fauci as ‘disgusting’ MORE, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and a key member of the administration’s coronavirus working group.
In an opinion piece published in USA Today, Navarro stated that Fauci was “wrong especially in what I have interacted with him”.
The economic adviser noted Fauci’s previous comments on the use of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, comments on the drop in the death rate in the country and other comments.
“So when you ask me if I listen to Dr. Fauci’s advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution,” he wrote.
Navarro’s opinion piece comes as the White House has gone public with its attacks on Fauci, who has headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984.
Dan Scavino, the White House’s deputy director of communications staff, shared a cartoon on his Facebook page on Sunday that showed Fauci as a faucet throwing the economy down the drain.
Navarro, whom Trump selected to administer the use of the Defense Production Law, also said he personally proceeds with caution before listening to Fauci’s advice.
Trump himself described Fauci in an interview as a “good man,” but said he “has made many mistakes.”
Fauci and other public health officials have advocated a more cautious approach to reopening the country after the closings due to the coronavirus pandemic, advice that the administration and state leaders have not fully followed.
Trump and his economic advisers have called for reopening measures, despite growing cases in numerous states across the country, with record cases reported in the south and southwest in recent weeks.
Navarro argued in his opinion piece that Fauci was wrong to say that there was only anecdotal evidence in Support for the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.
In mid-June, the Food and Drug Administration ruled that it would withdraw the emergency use authorization for the drug, citing at the time that the data showed no difference in COVID-19 patients who took the drug and those who did not.
Navarro wrote that he “confronted it with scientific studies that provided evidence of safety and efficacy, “noted a Michigan study linking lower death rates with the use of the drug in treatment.
He also promoted a White House narrative that the declining death rate puts the country in a good place to continue reopening.
Fauci, who has decades of experience studying infectious diseases, has said the decrease in death rate is due to more young people contracting the virus.
“Now Fauci says that a declining death rate does not matter when it is the most important statistic to help guide the pace of our economic reopening,” Navarro wrote. “The lower the death rate, the faster and more we can open up.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted Monday that FauciRecommendations on the pandemic are coming to the President and are one of many views that he considers.
At a Georgetown Institute for Policy and Public Service event, Fauci said he can be trusted by the public when he provides guidance on the coronavirus based on his record.
“I think for the most part, you can trust the respected medical authorities.” Fauci said Tuesday. “I think I am one of them, so I think you can trust me.”
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