Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

What’s Behind California’s Frozen Housing Market?

18 hours ago

Oil Prices Rise on Trade War Relief, US Pressure on Russia

19 hours ago

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

21 hours ago

UK Will Recognize Palestinian Statehood in September, Barring Israel-Hamas Ceasefire

21 hours ago

Trump’s EPA to Repeal Core of Greenhouse Gas Rules in Major Deregulatory Move

22 hours ago

US Approval of Israel’s Gaza Offensive Drops to 32%, Poll Shows

22 hours ago

Shooter in New York Skyscraper Left Note Blaming NFL for Brain Injury, Mayor Says

23 hours ago

Trump Eyes Aug 1 Trade Deals as EU, China Talks Continue, US Commerce Chief Says

23 hours ago

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

2 days ago
Trump Threatens to Fire Fauci in Rift With Disease Expert
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
November 2, 2020

Share

OPA-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, sparking chants of “Fire Fauci” from his supporters.

“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.”

As he prepared to fly to a campaign stop in Ohio hours later, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tweeted, “We need a president who actually listens to experts like Dr. Fauci.”

Biden has sought to keep the presidential campaign focused on what he says was a disastrous federal response to the pandemic. Trump is countering by using the race’s final hours to accuse his opponent 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.

The Latest Flare-up Follows Fauci Making His Sharpest Criticism Yet

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.

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.”

Trump Had Already Stepped up His Attacks on Biden in Recent Days

In response, White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump always puts people’s well-being first and Deere charges that Fauci has decided “to play politics” right before Tuesday’s election. Deere said Fauci “has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy” but instead is “choosing to criticize the president in the media and make his political leanings known.”

Trump had already stepped up his attacks on Biden in recent days for pledging to heed the advice of scientists in responding to the pandemic. As Trump charges that Biden’s measures to slow the pandemic could keep Americans home and hurt the economy, the former vice president has countered that the only way out of the health crisis is to heed the warnings of Fauci and other medical professionals. Biden has also been careful not to endorse another national lockdown.

Trump has recently relied on the advice of Stanford doctor Scott Atlas, who has no prior background in infectious diseases or public health, as his lead science adviser on the pandemic. Atlas has been a public skeptic about mask wearing and other measures widely accepted by the scientific community to slow the spread of the virus.

Other members of the White House coronavirus task force have grown increasingly vocal about what they see as a dangerous fall spike in the virus.

Trump’s aggressive approach to Fauci carries some risks with the election looming.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in September showed 68% of Americans have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in Fauci to provide reliable information on the coronavirus. That compares with 52% of Americans who trusted Biden to do that and just 40% for Trump.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California Under Tsunami Advisory After Magnitude 8.7 Earthquake

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Dies in DUI Crash, Driver Arrested

DON'T MISS

Madera County Wildfire Burns Near Fairmead, Containment at 0%

DON'T MISS

Watch Twin Meteor Showers Reach Their Simultaneous Peak in Summer Skies

DON'T MISS

New York Gunman Was Flagged by Security Camera System Before Attack, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

As Trump Cuts Education, Candidates Line Up for California’s Top Schools Job

DON'T MISS

US House Panel Rejects Immunity Request by Epstein Associate Maxwell

DON'T MISS

Fresno’s Vacant Property Ordinance Punishes the Wrong People: Rassamni

DON'T MISS

Trump Approval Rating Sinks to 40%, the Lowest of His Term, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

DON'T MISS

What’s Behind California’s Frozen Housing Market?

UP NEXT

New York Gunman Was Flagged by Security Camera System Before Attack, Sources Say

UP NEXT

US House Panel Rejects Immunity Request by Epstein Associate Maxwell

UP NEXT

Trump Approval Rating Sinks to 40%, the Lowest of His Term, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

UP NEXT

Trump Says Wall Street Journal, Murdoch Want to Settle Defamation Lawsuit

UP NEXT

New York Officer Killed in Manhattan Shooting Remembered as Hero in Bangladesh, US

UP NEXT

US States Sue Over Trump Demands for Data on Food Stamp Recipients

UP NEXT

FAA Failed to Act Before Helicopter Crash, Transport Chief Says

UP NEXT

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

UP NEXT

New Gallup Poll Reveals Most Immoral Behaviors In America

UP NEXT

Trump’s EPA to Repeal Core of Greenhouse Gas Rules in Major Deregulatory Move

Watch Twin Meteor Showers Reach Their Simultaneous Peak in Summer Skies

14 hours ago

New York Gunman Was Flagged by Security Camera System Before Attack, Sources Say

15 hours ago

As Trump Cuts Education, Candidates Line Up for California’s Top Schools Job

16 hours ago

US House Panel Rejects Immunity Request by Epstein Associate Maxwell

16 hours ago

Fresno’s Vacant Property Ordinance Punishes the Wrong People: Rassamni

17 hours ago

Trump Approval Rating Sinks to 40%, the Lowest of His Term, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

17 hours ago

What’s Behind California’s Frozen Housing Market?

18 hours ago

Tulare County Authorities Find Body in Sequoia National Park

18 hours ago

Oil Prices Rise on Trade War Relief, US Pressure on Russia

19 hours ago

Scottie Scheffler vs. Everybody: Open Champion Makes His Case Among the Greats

19 hours ago

California Under Tsunami Advisory After Magnitude 8.7 Earthquake

Update at 7:35 p.m. on July 29 The U.S. National Weather Service has issued a tsunami advisory for the California coast, with projected arri...

13 hours ago

13 hours ago

California Under Tsunami Advisory After Magnitude 8.7 Earthquake

Juan Carlos Mendoza Jr., 23, was arrested on suspicion of DUI and vehicular manslaughter after a crash in Fresno County killed a 24-year-old passenger. (Fresno County SO)
14 hours ago

Fresno Man Dies in DUI Crash, Driver Arrested

A wildfire in Madera County, dubbed the 19 Fire, has burned 16 acres with 0% containment as of Tuesday, July 29, 2025, afternoon, according to CalFire. (CalFire)
14 hours ago

Madera County Wildfire Burns Near Fairmead, Containment at 0%

14 hours ago

Watch Twin Meteor Showers Reach Their Simultaneous Peak in Summer Skies

A man holding a rifle walks into an office building at 345 Park Avenue shortly before a shooting that killed several people, in the Midtown Manhattan district of New York City, U.S. July 28, 2025, in a still image taken from surveillance video. Surveillance Camera/Handout via REUTERS
15 hours ago

New York Gunman Was Flagged by Security Camera System Before Attack, Sources Say

Teacher Uses Globe While Instructing Her Students
16 hours ago

As Trump Cuts Education, Candidates Line Up for California’s Top Schools Job

Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell stands at the podium to address Judge Alison Nathan during her sentencing in a courtroom sketch in New York City, U.S. June 28, 2022. (Reuters File)
16 hours ago

US House Panel Rejects Immunity Request by Epstein Associate Maxwell

17 hours ago

Fresno’s Vacant Property Ordinance Punishes the Wrong People: Rassamni

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend