US infectious disease chief Dr Anthony Fauci is being targeted by the Trump administration as tensions rise between the health expert and the president. BBC News reports that the White House has been increasingly critical of Fauci, and an official has shared a list detailing past apparent erroneous comments. Fauci's changing advice on masks and remarks on COVID-19's severity are among the points from the White House.
The report says the move to undercut him comes as the US continues to see surges in COVID-19.
The report says Fauci has contradicted President Donald Trump's comments on the pandemic a number of times, pushing back on the president's claims that the outbreak is improving and attributing hasty state re-openings to the recent surges.
The White House memo leaked over the weekend had noted "several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Fauci has been wrong on things". Though the White House said Fauci and Trump have a "good working relationship", Trump adviser Peter Navarro is quoted in the report ass aying: "When you ask me if I listen to Dr Fauci's advice, my answer is only with caution."
Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant US health secretary and member of the virus task force, is quoted as saying that while he respects Dr Fauci, he is not always right. "Dr Fauci is not 100% right and he also doesn't necessarily, he admits that, have the whole national interest in mind. He looks at it from a very narrow public health point of view."
The report says Fauci has not weighed in on the White House memo, but he has remarked on his recent lack of television appearances. "I have a reputation, as you probably have figured out, of speaking the truth at all times and not sugar-coating things," has been quoted as saying. "And that may be one of the reasons why I haven't been on television very much lately."
The report asks, did Fauci get things wrong? In February, Fauci did not advise Americans to change their behaviour due to the pandemic, but he did note the situation was evolving. He said: "Although the risk is low now, you don't need to change anything you're doing, when you start to see community spread, this could change." At the time, there were fewer than 100 cases in the US.
In early March, Fauci and other health officials did advise against having the public wear masks. He did, at the time, note that infected individuals should wear one to prevent spreading the disease. Fauci has defended his earlier comments on masks, citing new research and saying it was due to concerns over scarcity at the time for healthcare providers.
He has since strongly recommended wearing face coverings in public.
A career official, the report says Fauci has advised six presidents – Republican and Democratic – on health issues, including the HIV/Aids epidemic. He has been the director of the National Institutes of Health Allergy and Infectious Diseases division since 1984.
[link url="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53392817"]Full BBC News report[/link]