Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has become pretty famous in 2020 as he’s been front and center on all things related to coronavirus, but his time in the spotlight might be ending soon. Late Sunday night, President Trump dropped some hints at a rally in Florida that he may fire Fauci if he gets the chance in the next few days. The president accused network media and a number of high-profile commentators of using the pandemic as a political issue, and he told the crowd that after the election there’s a good chance you won’t hear as much about it, similar to what happened during the riots of June.
“You turn on the news, ‘COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. We’d like to talk about COVID,’ and then next story. Here’s what happens Nov. 4 – you won’t hear too much about it. You won’t hear too much about it,” Trump said in Miami.
At one point a man in the crowd could be heard yelling out to the president to “Fire Fauci,” which led to a growing chant from other parts of the crowd to shout the same phrase. Trump responded with “Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election. I appreciate the advice. I appreciate it. Nah, he’s been wrong on a lot. He’s a nice man, though. He’s been wrong on a lot.”
Fauci has warned families against celebrating Thanksgiving together, and he’s also said recently that social distancing and masks might be needed into 2022, over a year after a vaccine is expected to be available. “It’s not going to be the way it was with polio and measles, where you get a vaccine, case closed, it’s done. It’s going to be public-health measures that linger for months and months.”
Time will tell if Fauci is going to be in position to warn Americans about celebrating future holidays with their families.
Add comment