During a call with his re-election campaign staff, US President Donald Trump slammed Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert, and called the latter "a disaster".
According to the audio of Monday's call obtained by The Hill news website, the President even accused Fauci of providing inconsistent advice about the coronavirus pandemic and claimed that if he had followed all of the top scientist's advice, the US would have "700,000 to 800,000 deaths right now".
"People are saying: 'Whatever. Just leave us alone.' They're tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots," said Trump, whose rallies include many supporters not wearing masks and standing shoulder to shoulder, at odds with the guidance of Fauci. "He's like this wonderful guy, a wonderful sage telling us how he said, do not wear facemasks — that's a number of months ago. He said, do not close it up to China. I have a list of 15 things.
"And yet we keep him. Every time he goes on television there's always a bomb. But there is a bigger bomb if you fire him. But Fauci is a disaster... If we listened to him, we'd have 700,000 to 800,000 deaths right now," the President added.
What Fauci Said
Trump's rant came a day after Fauci said during a CBS News interview on Sunday that he was not surprised when Trump had tested positive for Covid-19 after the September 27 White House "super spreader" cermony for Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Following the event, the others who were infected besides the President included First Lady Melania Trump; youngest son Barron Trump; senior aides Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller; White House Press Secretary Kayley McEnany; RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel; Republican Senators Mike Lee and Thom Tilis; former adviser Kellyanne Conway; and Trump campaign director Bill Stepien.
During Monday's call, the President also claimed the people are tired of the pandemic, adding "just leave us alone", The Hill news website reported. "With or without vaccines, people are tired of Covid-19."
The President continued his tirade against Fauci even on Twitter, saying on Monday night that he should "make better decisions", while also mocked him for throwing "perhaps the worst first pitch in the history of Baseball".
(With additional inputs)
