Trump threatens to fire Fauci in rift with disease expertPresident Donald Trump has suggested he'll fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after Tuesday’s election
November 2, 2020, 8:07 PM
5 min read
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleOPA-LOCKA, Fla. -- President Donald Trump is suggesting that he will fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after Tuesday’s election, as his rift with the nation’s 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 killed more than 231,000 people in the United States this year remains prominent in the news. That sparked his supporters to begin chanting “Fire Fauci.”
“Don’t tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election,” Trump replied to thousands of supporters early Monday, adding he appreciated their “advice.”
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tweeted later Monday in response: “We need a president who actually listens to experts like Dr. Fauci.”
Biden has sought to keep the campaign focused on what he says is a disastrous federal response to the pandemic. Trump is countering by using the race’s final hours to accuse Biden 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.
It’s 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.
Trump cannot directly fire Fauci, who is not a presidential appointee. Theoretically, Trump could pressure Fauci’s boss, Dr. Francis Collins, or Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to do so. Even discounting Fauci’s scientific legacy, taking that step would be politically extraordinary considering a Republican president, George W. Bush, awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Fauci also has considerable bipartisan support in Congress.
Former President Barack Obama defended Fauci while campaigning in Atlanta for Biden. Obama praised Fauci's public service and remarked that Trump's “second-term plan is to fire that guy, the one person who could actually help them contain the pandemic.”
The latest flare-up follows Fauci making his sharpest criticism yet of the White House’s response to the coronavirus and Trump’s public assertion that the nation is “rounding the turn."
Fauci has grown outspoken that Trump has ignored his advice for containing the virus, saying he hasn’t spoken with Trump in more than a month. He has raised alarm that the nation was heading for a challenging winter if more isn’t 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 “a whole lot of hurt” in the weeks ahead due to surging coronavirus cases.
Fauci said the U.S. “could not possibly be positioned more poorly” 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 “abrupt change” in public health precautions.
Fauci added that he believed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden “is taking it seriously from a public health perspective,” while Trump is “looking at it from a different perspective.” Fauci, who’s on the White House coronavirus task force, said that perspective emphasizes “the economy and reopening the country.”
