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Donald Trump lashed out at Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, calling it a “disaster” when the president tried to defend his handling of the pandemic with just two weeks to go.
In a call with campaign aides on Monday, Trump played down the severity of the pandemic, which has killed nearly 220,000 Americans, and said the public was tired of hearing warnings from scientists.
“People are tired of listening to Fauci and these idiots,” Trump said, according to recordings of the call played in the US media. “Every day that goes on television, there is always a bomb, but there is a bigger bomb if you shoot it. . . Fauci is a mess. “
His comments came the morning after Dr. Fauci, a leading member of the White House coronavirus task force, told CBS television that he was not surprised that Trump had caught Covid-19.
Dr. Fauci told the weekly news program 60 minutes he had been concerned about the White House’s decision to hold a meeting last month to announce Amy Coney Barrett as Trump’s Supreme Court candidate.
Several of those who attended the event, including two senators and Chris Christie, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, contracted the disease. There was no social distancing at the event and very few attendees wore masks.
Trump’s decision to publicly criticize Dr. Fauci, who according to polls continues to enjoy bipartisan support across the country, comes as the United States is experiencing its third increase in new coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
More than a dozen states, mostly in the Midwest, reported their highest level of coronavirus hospitalizations in the past week, according to the Financial Times analysis of Project Covid Tracking data.
Last week, the number of coronavirus patients in U.S. hospitals surpassed 37,000 for the first time since a summer outbreak in late August, but had dropped to just over 36,400 as of Sunday.
Hours after attacking Dr. Fauci in the campaign call, Trump took to Twitter to continue his criticism of the 79-year-old man, who has secret service protection due to threats he received for his stance on Covid-19.
“Fauci says we don’t allow him to do television and yet I saw him last night on @ 60Minutes, and he seems like he’s got more airtime than anyone since the late great Bob Hope,” Trump tweeted on his way to Arizona for a rally. , referring to the late comedian.
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In recent months, Dr. Fauci has been partially excluded from the task force, as Trump has relied on the advice of Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist with little experience in infectious diseases who has alienated many of his colleagues by pushing a strategy of “herd immunity”.
Two dozen states, including 12 in the Midwest, reported their highest seven-day average pandemic case rate at least once in the past week, according to data from the Covid Tracking Project as of Sunday.
Wisconsin, which has become one of the states hardest hit by the new outbreak, reported 3,777 new cases on Monday, close to the state’s record highs for a day late last week and much higher than 1,956. registered a week ago.
Separately, on Monday, the Trump campaign accused the commission that oversees presidential debates of catering to Biden after the moderator announced that she would question candidates on a variety of issues rather than focusing solely on foreign policy.
The Trump campaign also raised concerns about the debate rule changes being considered, which some Democratic operatives have said should include a mechanism to cut off either candidate’s microphone to avoid disruption.
Trump withdrew from the second presidential debate after the commission changed the format to a virtual event because the president had contracted Covid-19. Thursday’s debate in Nashville, Tennessee, will be the last time the two men meet before the Nov. 3 election.
Additional reporting by Kiran Stacey in Washington and Peter Wells in New York
Follow Demetri Sebastopulo On twitter
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