During an Opa-Loka, Florida rally Sunday night, Donald Trump suggested that he might fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after the election.
The comment after he promised that a vaccine was coming and that the country is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic.
“Fire Fauci!” is all you heard from the chanting crowd of supporters.
Trump’s response to the crowd was. “Don’t tell anybody but let me wait ’til a little bit after the election.”
He then continued mocking Fauci, “I appreciate it,” said Trump. “Now, he’s been wrong on a lot. He’s a nice man though.”
This came after the White House blasted Fauci for saying in an interview that the U.S. is going to be in a terrible position come the winter months. Fauci also mentioned how Joe Biden was taking the virus seriously as a public threat, while Trump was focused on the economy and reopening the country.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said it was “unacceptable and breaking with all norms for Dr. Fauci, a senior member of the President’s Coronavirus Taskforce and someone who has praised President Trump’s actions throughout this pandemic, to choose three days before an election to play politics.”
Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Washington Post “We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation.” He added, “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.”
The U.S. is nowhere near “rounding the turn” as Trump suggested, with over 400 new deaths and more than 70,000 new cases nationwide since Sunday.
Fauci has served in his position since 1984, serving under both Republican and Democratic presidents. He has he will continue in his role regardless of the outcome of the 2020 election.
