Fauci slammed Trump's 'rudderless' leadership and called his attention span 'a minus number': Woodward's new book
Infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci, who is also a member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, has not had a smooth sailing all these months. The 78-year-old has time and again stood by science to stress on precautionary efforts against the coronavirus outbreak that has affected more than six million people in the US and claimed more than 190,000 lives, but his viewpoints have not received much of an endorsement from either the commander-in-chief or his aides.
According to a report in Politico that came out on Wednesday, September 9, an official at the Department of Health and Human Services has even tried to stop Fauci from speaking about the risks that the virus poses to kids to which the veteran doctor said he will never be “muzzled” when it came to scientific evidence and facts.
That Fauci’s relationship with Trump has been far from cozy has been revealed by ‘Rage’, a bombshell new book authored by journalist Bob Woodward which speaks about the Trump presidency. According to excerpts of the upcoming book that came out on Wednesday, September 9, Fauci called Trump’s leadership as “rudderless” while it came to dealing with the virus and that the commander-in-chief has a terrible attention span. Woodward quoted Fauci as saying that Trump’s “attention span is like a minus number” and “his sole purpose is to get re-elected”. The book also said that Fauci told other players that the president “is on a separate channel” and was not keenly interested in meetings.
Fauci, however, distanced from the revelations of the new book. The same day, the expert told Fox News' 'The Daily Briefing' that he didn't "recall" saying that the president's leadership is "rudderless" and that he has an attention span in the "minus number". “You know, I don’t think so, John,” Fauci told guest host John Roberts, adding: “I don’t recall anything different than in our discussions with the president that he said things quite similar publicly.”
Fauci’s remarks were highlighted on a day he expressed frustration over the fact that large political gatherings were taking place without people wearing masks as a precaution. Recently, Trump asked his supporters to sport the face gear at a rally in a Pennsylvania airport but didn’t care to wear one himself. He also mocked his Democratic presidential opponent Joe Biden for wearing the mask frequently. He also said the former vice president has mental issues.
Woodward's book has also revealed that Trump knew that the virus was “deadly” and worse than flu but yet misled the people of America in February and March about the risks that it posed. A report in The Washington Post cited Trump as saying in a recorded conversation with Woodward that he downplayed the risks throughout because he did not want people to panic. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany later said that the “president never downplayed the virus and expressed calm”.
Leaders need to set up example, Fauci says
Fauci, meanwhile, asked public officials to lead by example following Trump's September 9 rally in North Carolina, attended by thousands. He said this while speaking on ‘CBS This Morning’. “The president continues to hold these massive rallies where people are not wearing masks including the president himself,” interviewer Gayle King asked him.
“Well, yes, it is. I’ve said that often. That situation is we want to set an example. Because we know that when you do four or five typical kind of public health measures: mask, physical distance, avoiding crowds, making sure you do most things outdoors versus indoors,” he said.
“Those are the kinds of things that turn around surges and also prevent us from getting surges. So I certainly would like to see universal wearing of masks,” Fauci added. There were people who wore masks while sitting on the back of the podium where the president spoke but the latter himself did not wear one.
Fauci, who spoke hours after Trump attended two rallies in Florida and North Carolina, said many states reached a plateau in their fight against coronavirus but the country was yet to see a steep fall in the cases like some other countries.
Last month, Trump brought on board his task force Dr Scott Atlas, a neuro-radiologist who is known to be in agreement with the president’s views on the pandemic situation. Unlike Fauci, he has always dismissed the idea of wearing masks as a precaution against coronavirus.