Recently, some White House officials, including President Donald Trump criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, for his dire warnings about the shortcomings in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, stating he was wrong about things.
On Wednesday, Dr. Fauci, who is the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said the recent efforts to discredit him are “bizarre” and a hindrance to the government’s ability to communicate information about the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview with The Atlanta, Dr. Fauci said, “I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that. I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do because it’s only reflecting negatively on them.”
On Wednesday, Peter Navarro, Trump’s top trade adviser, published an op-ed article in USA Today, describing Dr. Fauci as “wrong about everything.”
Some White House officials have targeted him for passing comments, such as COVID-19 was “not a major threat” and “not driven by asymptomatic carriers.” In March, Dr. Fauci said, “People should not be walking around with masks.”
When asked about Navarro’s comments, Trump said Navarro “shouldn’t be doing that.”
The White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, told reporters that he had not read the piece; however, he criticized Navarro’s decision to publish it without allowing officials to vet the content.
Meadows said, “Peter Navarro’s statement or op-ed or whatever you want to classify it as was an independent action that was a violation of well-established protocols that was not supported overtly or covertly by anybody in the West Wing. I think Peter Navarro spoke for himself.”
Vice President Mike Pence told TV host Greta Van Susteren, “[Dr. Fauci] He’s a valued member of our team,” adding that administration officials “have great respect for him.”
Without directly criticizing the president — both men have emphasized their personal fondness for each other — Dr. Fauci has begun fighting back.
In The Atlantic interview, Dr. Fauci, who is also one of the key members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, complained that the administration’s criticism against him had made it difficult for public health officials to communicate accurate information.
He said, “It distracts from what I hope would be the common effort of getting this thing under control, rather than this back-and-forth distraction, which just doesn’t make any sense.”
“We’ve got to almost reset this and say, ‘OK, let’s stop this nonsense.’ We’ve got to figure out, how can we get our control over this now, and, looking forward, how can we make sure that next month, we don’t have another example of California, Texas, Florida and Arizona?”
Dr. Fauci added, “So rather than these games people are playing, let’s focus on that.”
Responding to Navarro’s statement, Dr. Fauci said, “I can’t explain Peter Navarro. He’s in a world by himself.” The article originally appeared on The New York Times.
