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Trump says he 'inherited' Fauci, Internet reminds him no president has complained about the expert in 36 years

Trump told his interviewer that there was little he could do about the infectious diseases expert because Fauci came as part and parcel of the job he took on three and a half years ago

In an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Monday, August 31, President Donald Trump opened up about his displeasure with the head of infectious disease at the National Institutes of Health, Anthony Fauci, who is also part of the White House coronavirus task force. 

When Trump was asked by the interviewer if he would put Fauci "front and center" in the pandemic response, he told Ingraham that, "I disagree with a lot of what he said," but there was little he could do about it because Fauci came as part and parcel of the job he took on three and a half years ago. I get along with him, but every once in a while, he'll come up with one that I say, 'Where did that come from?'" Trump continued. "I inherited him. He was here. He was part of this huge piece of machine."

He went onto reiterate his claim that Fauci opposed his decision to restrict travel from China in January. At the time, Fauci indicated that he did not think it was a good idea and later on insisted that it brought the United States time to fight the coronavirus pandemic. 

After Ingraham's interview, people took to Twitter to react to Trump's statement about Fauci, fact-checking the president's claims and showing their support for the expert. 'Actually, Dr Fauci has been US’s top infectious disease expert heading up NIAID since 1984!!! 36 years! No other 5 former presidents he worked under complained. GW Bush even awarded him Presidential Medal of Freedom,' one wrote, while another said, "Fauci actually recommended closing travel from China. Trump followed the suggestion. We went in and said, 'We probably should be doing that. And the answer was yes.' Same with Europe. Same with UK. #ShutTheFactUp." A third defended Fauci saying: "If Dr. Fauci was as petty as I am, the next interview that asks me about Trump, my first answer would be that "I inherited him". Don't forget we never knew about Dr. Fauci when he was with Obama during Ebola, because he just did his job and we all benefited from it."

Back in July, Trump told Gray TV host Greta van Susteren that he had gone against the advice of Fauci and taken a lot of decisions regarding the ongoing health crisis in the country. "Dr. Fauci said don't wear masks and now he says wear them," Trump said July 7. "He said numerous things. Don't close off China. Don't ban China. I did it anyway." Two days later he told Fox News host Sean Hannity, "Fauci is a nice man, but he's made a lot of mistakes."

Even the White House seemed to publicly denounce Fauci as the Washington Post reported in the same month that White House staff released a statement saying that "several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr Fauci has been wrong on things." Despite Trump's angry rant against Fauci, the masses have time and again backed the health expert, showing open support for him on social media, which often infuriated Trump.

During a press briefing at the White House in July, the POTUS said that he was puzzled to find out that Fauci had a higher approval rating when it comes to handling the coronavirus response compared to him. "It’s interesting. He’s got a very good approval rating, and I like that. It’s good. Because, remember, he’s working for this administration. He’s working with us. We could’ve gotten other people. We could’ve gotten somebody else. It didn't have to be Dr. Fauci. He's working with our administration, and for the most part, we've done pretty much what he and others ... recommended. He’s got this high approval rating, so why don’t I have a high approval rating ... with respect to the virus?"

He quickly made it about himself. "It sort of is curious," Trump said. "A man works for us, with us, very closely, Dr. Fauci and Dr. [Deborah] Birx, also highly thought of, and yet they're highly thought of, but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. That’s all."