Despite the White House's attempt to rundown Dr. Anthony Fauci's reputation, claiming that he has been wrong about several coronavirus related claims during the initial stage of the pandemic, Donald Trump continues to insist that his relationship with the country's leading physician and immunologist is good. The president, however, fails to understand why he is lagging behind him in terms of approval rating.
Just a day after retweeting a message suggesting that Fauci misled the public, Trump attributed his sinking numbers to his personality. The president noted that Fauci's broad respect should pass on Trump's administration, given that he works for it. Trump went on to say that he not only gets along with him very well, but he also agrees with a lot of things he has said in the past.
Noting that it is interesting that Fauci has a good approval rating, Trump pointed out that he likes that because the doctor works for the administration that could have gotten other people instead. Trump went on to explain that the administration has done what Fauci, Dr. Birx, and other key health officials have recommended.
Trump said since Fauci has got a high approval rating, it is surprising that he or the administration doesn't have an approval rating as well, adding that they should have a very high rating. Noting that although Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx, both very highly thought of, are working closely with him, Trump said it is sort of curious that nobody likes him, noting that it could be due to his personality and nothing else.
In a series of tweets, the president retweeted baseless claims, including one that suggests hydroxychloroquine is an effective medicine to cure coronavirus and another tweet that accused Fauci of being a fraud. Aside from restricting Trump Jr.'s account, Twitter took action and removed numerous tweets that were retweeted by him.
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has invalidated authorization of drugs including hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine that Trump claimed could come in handy for the treatment of COVID-19, CNN reported. The agency claims that the aforesaid drugs fail to meet the statutory criteria in terms of emergency use authorization, given that they are not effective in treating the deadly virus based on the new scientific evidence.
While Trump continues to claim he has a good relationship with Fauci, he has downplayed his warnings to reopening the country too soon. The president recently called Fauci a bit of an alarmist, while the White House has left no stone unturned in a bid to discredit him.