Dr. Anthony Fauci complained that he was locked out of President Trump’s press briefing on the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday.
Fauci gave several interviews before and after Trump’s press briefing on the White House response to the pandemic on Tuesday.
On Monday, Trump announced he would resume regular news briefing on the pandemic after the virus spiked in some cities in recent weeks.
The press briefing was short and attended by 2 dozen reporters spaced 6 feet apart. Trump said the coronavirus would get worse before it gets better, but the virus will eventually disappear.
He went off script when he expressed good wishes to his former friend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently being held without bond in a Brooklyn detention center. She faces child sex trafficking charges.
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper an hour before Trump’s briefing, Fauci said he was not invited to attend the briefing, even though his colleague Dr. Deborah Birx was invited to attend.
“I was not invited up to this point. I’m assuming that I’m not going to be there because [Trump’s press briefing is] going to be in just a short while and I’m still here at the NIH. So I’m assuming I’m not going to be there.”
Trump expressed a lack of confidence in Dr. Fauci for making many “mistakes” regarding the coronavirus.
In March, Dr. Fauci insisted face masks were unnecessary because they don’t stop or slow down the spread of the virus.
Fauci also warned 2 million Americans would die if the country was not locked down. Fauci’s recommendations resulted in the loss of millions of jobs and forced businesses to lock their doors for good.
In an interview with Fox News that aired on Sunday, Trump said Fauci was a “bit of an alarmist. That’s OK. A little bit of an alarmist.”
Fauci denied being an alarmist when he spoke to Tapper. “I consider myself more a realist than an alarmist. But people do have their opinions other than that.”
