Multiple media outlets are reporting this weekend of increased tension between the White House and Dr. Anthony Fauci over his advice on battling the coronavirus pandemic:
Fauci is sidelined by the White House as he steps up blunt talk on pandemic https://t.co/VokCn7zgmS
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 11, 2020
One anonymous White House official went as far as to send the WaPo a list of statements where Dr. Fauci “has been wrong on things”:
“A White House official released a statement saying that “several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things,” and attaching a lengthy list of the scientist’s comments from early in the outbreak” https://t.co/s4sgsekkuf
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) July 12, 2020
Journos are calling it an “oppo dump”:
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As @washingtonpost first reported, a White House also provided a long list of past Fauci comments that did not age well, in what bears striking resemblance to an oppo dump
— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) July 12, 2020
CNN says they’ve confirmed the WaPo story:
Confirming Washington Post reporting– WH openly discrediting Fauci, a top health official/member of the coronavirus task force. Statement from a White House official: "Several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things."
— Kristen Holmes (@KristenhCNN) July 12, 2020
Well, maybe if people would give President Trump a little credit on the travel ban, it wouldn’t have gotten to this point?
It cuts against the deep public faith in Fauci, but White House officials have long pointed to the fact that he didn't favor travel bans early on and downplayed the idea of person-to-person transmission https://t.co/19GkhEh2a4
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 12, 2020
The Post also claims President Trump is “galled” by Dr. Fauci’s approval ratings:
“Trump is also galled by Fauci’s approval ratings. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll showed that 67 percent of voters trusted Fauci for information on the coronavirus, compared with 26 percent who trusted Trump.” https://t.co/DOBrrX8EAz
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 12, 2020
And there goes the narrative for the week:
“Many of the past statements the White House is criticizing Fauci for are ones that were based on the best available data at the time and were widely echoed by Trump, other members of the task force and senior White House officials” https://t.co/f6chfxJxpa
— ??????? ???? (@exavierpope) July 12, 2020
“The knives are out”:
Predictably, the knives are out for Dr. Fauci, a supremely qualified expert on outbreaks whose sin seems to be speaking truth to power and consistently outshining the president in trustworthiness. https://t.co/wmXsOfrsUw
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 12, 2020
Expect Joe Biden to jump on this as well:
From a WH that has done many despicable things, smearing Tony Fauci is one of the worst. He has served six Presidents and saved countless lives. If a President could have just ONE advisor to help him navigate a health crisis, Tony would be my pick.
— Ronald Klain (@RonaldKlain) July 12, 2020
Exit question: Why grant WH officials anonymity in the first place for something like this?
if the WH wants to discredit one of their own top public health experts in a pandemic, they should come out and put a name to it. there is no journalistic reason to grant them anonymity. this serves no one, spreads confusion, and is actively dangerous https://t.co/7LiSBoyL78
— David Mack (@davidmackau) July 12, 2020
“. . .makes the journalists involved accomplices. . .”:
And makes the journalists involved accomplices, abetters, of reprehensible and socially damaging behavior. And willfully misleading. Not that my people have ever really cared about that.
— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) July 12, 2020
It does sound like Admiral Brett Giroir attempted to do a little damage control this morning:
One of President Trump’s coronavirus task force members said that Fauci doesn’t necessarily “have the whole national interest in mind” in suggesting responses to the pandemic https://t.co/5qf6YzlnFB
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) July 12, 2020
His point being that Dr. Fauci is only looking at the “public health point of view,” not the economy and everything else involved. From Bloomberg:
Fauci, who’s also on the task force, “looks at it from a very narrow public health point of view,” Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant secretary at the Health and Human Services Department, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “He admits that.”
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