President Donald Trump disparaged infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on a call with campaign staff, tearing into experts as ‘idiots’ and saying Americans are ‘tired of COVID.’
In an election upended by the coronavirus, the president vented about lockdowns and Fauci in particular, after the expert has expressed increasing frustration with the lack of direction on social distancing and mask wearing that Fauci says could save thousands of lives.
The foul-mouthed tirade came as U.S. coronavirus infections appeared to be experiencing another spike, with 220000 Americans dead of the disease already.
‘People are tired of Covid,’ Trump said on the leaked call.
People are tired of hearing Fauci and these idiots, all these idiots who got it wrong,’ he said, going further than in public comments where he has undermined current health directives by pointing to indecision from experts early in the pandemic.
Trump called Fauci a ‘disaster,’ but revealed he believes he cannot fire him.
‘Every time he goes on television, there’s always a bomb, but there’s a bigger bomb if you fire him. This guy’s a disaster,’ Trump vented.
‘Fauci is a nice guy,’ Trump said of the career civil servant, who has spent months cautioning Americans about avoiding large gatherings and indoor spaces through TV appearances. But complained: ‘He’s been here for 500 years.’
Fauci, 79, has spent decades advising U.S. presidents on disease outbreaks, and became a known public figure during the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic.
‘If I listened to him, we’d have 500,000 deaths,’ Trump fumed about Fauci, without offering evidence.
‘People are saying whatever. Just leave us alone,’ said the president, in the midst of a cross-country campaign tour that has featured a series of large rallies where attendees are not socially distanced and many eschew masks.
His attacks come amid dangerous trends for infections, deaths, and test positivity rates. The U.S. has been logging more than 50,000 infections a day, with numbers approaching mid-summer highs.
A host of reporters were on the call – a matter that Trump appeared to anticipate and brush off.
‘If there’s a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it, I couldn’t care less,’ he said.
The New York Times and CNN were among those listening.