NBC News is reporting that on Sunday, in a below-the-belt broadside, a Trump administration official told the news agency that “several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things.”
The official even went so far as to hand over a list of close to a dozen past comments attributed to Fauci earlier in the pandemic that the official said had ultimately proven erroneous.
Among them: Fauci’s comments in January that coronavirus was “not a major threat” and “not driven by asymptomatic carriers” and Fauci’s comment in March that “people should not be walking around with masks.”
Trump’s Testing Czar, Adm. Brett Giroir – who serves as the assistant secretary of Health in the Department of Health and Human Services and coordinates the federal government’s coronavirus testing programs – made the rounds Sunday of the talk shows, including NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and ABC’s “This Week.”
TODAY on #MTP: Admiral Brett Giroir says “Dr. Fauci is not 100 percent right.” #MTP #IfItSunday@HHS_ASH: “He looks at it from a very narrow public health point of view.” pic.twitter.com/EE07SYXEAd
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 12, 2020
Giroir obviously came well-prepared and well instructed in what to say, especially if he wants to keep his job under Trump. And if you think about it, that is what these rumblings against Dr. Fauci are all about. Fauci has more respect for his reputation than to spout lies and misinformation approved by the White House.
Distraction, distraction
NBC points out the whole Sunday morning talk show deal appeared to be more characteristic of a political campaign, “furtively disseminating opposition research about an opponent.” Sort of like a Trump campaign ad…
Meet the Press host Chuck Todd asked Giroir, the testing coordinator at the Department of Health and Human Services, about a Washington Post report that said Fauci has argued states with spikes should shut down again.
Giroir said he doesn’t “think we need to shut down” again — “at least in most places around the country” but suggested Americans “avoid bars” and “wear a mask in public.” He also added That Fauci looks at the coronavirus pandemic “from a very narrow public health point of view.”
.@GStephanopoulos: “Can you say we are in the good place?”
“We are all very concerned about what the virus is doing right now,” testing czar Adm. Brett Giroir says, but adds, “We are in a much better place than we were in April,” pointing to testing, PPE. pic.twitter.com/OBcB09bLXD
— ABC News (@ABC) July 12, 2020
I think the public should listen to science, and I don’t mind telling you why. As scientists around the world have learned more and more about the novel coronavirus, they have also learned how to better treat those infected with the virus, formulated proper disinfection methods, and learned how to limit its spread.
Many of Fauci’s assertions called into question by the White House official 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. But the Trump administration is hoping the public won’t remember that.
“When you learn more, you change those recommendations,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams, another member of the task force, told CBS News on Sunday. “Our recommendations have changed.”
I can understand Fauci’s frustration with the narcissistic idiot trying to lead this country, but trying to explain anything science-related to Trump would be like talking to a post. But I like that the doctor isn’t afraid to tell the truth. The truth sometimes is not what we want to hear, but in the final analysis, it is the right thing to do.
