U.S. News

President Trump Retweets Post Calling for the Firing of Dr. Anthony Fauci

This Comes During A Feud Between the President and Head NIH Doctor

Reporter Tyler Bagent

On Sunday, April 13th, President Trump retweeted a post calling for the firing of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the lead doctor in the Administration’s Coronavirus Task Force. This was only the peak of a long, ongoing feud between the two, with the President attacking some of Fauci’s criticisms of the response to COVID-19.

The feud started when Dr. Fauci went on several talk shows, mentioning that COVID-19 deaths could have been reduced if precautions were put in before they were. In response, President Trump lashed out on Twitter, defending his Administration’s response to the virus, including “ban[ning] China.” He also went after state Governors, the Democratic Party, Fox News Anchor Chris Wallace, and Presumptive Democratic Nominee Joe Biden on the same night. The day after, Fauci went alone to address the press on his criticism, calling it a “poor choice of words.”

Several White House staffers have reported that Trump has been privately frustrated with Fauci, however, the retweet was possibly the most blatant statement from Trump. The statement has also brought on lots of anger from Trump supporters, with the hashtag ‘#FireFauci’ trending soon after. Most notably, a Republican Senate Candidate in Massachusetts has started a petition to the President, garnering nearly 102,000 signatures.

Just last week, President Trump blocked Dr. Fauci from testifying before Congress, possibly expanding the still-ongoing feud. Regardless, some have pointed to Fauci’s high approval ratings as reason the President has no choice but to keep Fauci on the Coronavirus Task Force. Only time will tell if the President will keep his attacks coming, or keep Facui onboard in the fight against COVID-19.