Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that former President Donald Trump tried to get him to minimize the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 25.6 million individuals tested positive for COVID-19 in America as of Sunday, and more than 429,000 deaths have been attributed to the virus. At the time, Fauci’s routine public contradictions about Trump’s pandemic allegations drew a strong reaction from MAGA supporters, who shouted “fire Fauci!” at campaign rallies.
Now working for President Biden’s administration, Fauci said O New York Times, in an interview published on Sunday, that Trump encouraged him to be optimistic – even when things got worse.
“I was trying to express the gravity of the situation, and the president’s response always leaned towards, ‘Well, it’s not that bad, right?’ And I would say: ‘Yes, it’s that bad,’ “he recalled.
“It was almost a reflex response, trying to persuade you to minimize it. Not saying, ‘I want you to minimize it’, but, ‘Oh, really, was it that bad?'” Fauci continued.
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“There were times when I made a statement that was a pessimistic point of view about the direction we were going, and the president would call me and say, ‘Hey, why aren’t you more optimistic? To have a positive attitude. For are you so negative? Be more positive. ‘”
Fauci also expressed concern about how Trump would consider the views of his co-workers and others on pandemic-related issues as important information.
“It was clear that he was getting information from people who were calling him, I don’t know who, people he knew from business, saying, ‘Hey, I heard about this drug, isn’t it great?’ or, ‘Boy, this convalescent plasma is really phenomenal,’ “he said.” He would take their opinion seriously – based on no data, just anecdotes – that something can really be important. It wasn’t just hydroxychloroquine, it was a variety of alternative medicine approaches. “
Trump embraced the use of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, to treat coronavirus in its early stages. Last year, he tweeted a controversial claim that the drug is “a cure for Covid”. However, its support for the drug, which has unproven effectiveness against the virus, directly contradicted the guidelines of the federal health agency. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned against its use for COVID-19 outside a hospital setting or clinical trial, due to the risk of heart rhythm problems.
Fauci said he tried to “calmly explain” to Trump that drugs need to undergo a clinical trial, but the former president said, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it really works.”
Newsweek contacted Trump representatives for comment.