President Trump threatens to fire Dr. Fauci in rift with disease expert
President Donald Trump is suggesting that he will fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after Tuesday바카라 게임 웹사이트s election, as his rift with the nation바카라 게임 웹사이트s top infectious disease expert widens while the nation sees its most alarming outbreak of the coronavirus since the spring.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Opa-locka, Florida, Trump expressed frustration that the surging cases of the virus that has in the United States this year remains prominent in the news, sparking chants of 바카라 게임 웹사이트Fire Fauci바카라 게임 웹사이트 from his supporters.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Don바카라 게임 웹사이트t tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Trump replied to thousands of supporters early Monday, adding he appreciated their 바카라 게임 웹사이트advice.바카라 게임 웹사이트
As he prepared to fly to a campaign stop in Ohio hours later, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tweeted, 바카라 게임 웹사이트We need a president who actually listens to experts like Dr. Fauci.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Biden has sought to keep the presidential campaign focused on what he says was a disastrous federal response to the pandemic. Trump is countering by using the race바카라 게임 웹사이트s final hours to accuse his opponent of wanting to force the country back into a lockdown to slow the spread of the virus.
Still, Trump's comments on Fauci less than 48 hours before polls close likely ensure the pandemic will remain front and center heading into Election Day.
It바카라 게임 웹사이트s the most direct Trump has been in suggesting he was serious about trying to remove Fauci from his position. He has previously expressed that he was concerned about the political blowback of removing the popular and respected doctor before the election.
The latest flare-up follows Fauci making his sharpest criticism yet of the White House바카라 게임 웹사이트s response to the coronavirus and Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트s public assertion that the nation is 바카라 게임 웹사이트rounding the turn."
According to CNN, under federal law, Trump doesn't have the power to directly fire Fauci, a career civil servant, and remove him from government. He could try ordering his political appointees to dismiss him, but it would be a time-consuming process that Fauci could appeal.
Fauci has grown outspoken that Trump has ignored his advice for containing the virus, saying he hasn바카라 게임 웹사이트t spoken with Trump in more than a month. He has raised alarm that the nation was heading for a challenging winter if more isn바카라 게임 웹사이트t done soon to slow the spread of the disease.
In an interview with The Washington Post this weekend, Fauci cautioned that the U.S. will have to deal with 바카라 게임 웹사이트a whole lot of hurt바카라 게임 웹사이트 in the weeks ahead due to surging coronavirus cases.
Fauci said the U.S. 바카라 게임 웹사이트could not possibly be positioned more poorly바카라 게임 웹사이트 to stem rising cases as more people gather indoors during the colder fall and winter months. He says the U.S. will need to make an 바카라 게임 웹사이트abrupt change바카라 게임 웹사이트 in public health precautions.
Fauci added that he believed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden 바카라 게임 웹사이트is taking it seriously from a public health perspective,바카라 게임 웹사이트 while Trump is 바카라 게임 웹사이트looking at it from a different perspective.바카라 게임 웹사이트 Fauci, who바카라 게임 웹사이트s on the White House coronavirus task force, said that perspective emphasizes 바카라 게임 웹사이트the economy and reopening the country.바카라 게임 웹사이트
In response, White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump always puts people바카라 게임 웹사이트s well-being first and Deere charges that Fauci has decided 바카라 게임 웹사이트to play politics바카라 게임 웹사이트 right before Tuesday바카라 게임 웹사이트s election. Deere said Fauci 바카라 게임 웹사이트has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy바카라 게임 웹사이트 but instead is 바카라 게임 웹사이트choosing to criticize the president in the media and make his political leanings known.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Trump had already stepped up his attacks on Biden in recent days for pledging to heed the advice of scientists in responding to the pandemic. As Trump charges that Biden's measures to slow the pandemic could keep Americans home and hurt the economy, the former vice president has countered that the only way out of the health crisis is to heed the warnings of Fauci and other medical professionals. Biden has also been careful not to endorse another national lockdown.
Trump has recently relied on the advice of Stanford doctor Scott Atlas, who has no prior background in infectious diseases or public health, as his lead science adviser on the pandemic. Atlas has been a public skeptic about mask wearing and other measures widely accepted by the scientific community to slow the spread of the virus.
Other members of the White House coronavirus task force have grown increasingly vocal about what they see as a dangerous fall spike in the virus.
Trump's aggressive approach to Fauci carries some risks with the election looming.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in September showed 68% of Americans have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in Fauci to provide reliable information on the coronavirus. That compares with 52% of Americans who trusted Biden to do that and just 40% for Trump.
CNN contributed to this report.