Fauci Says Not Surprised Trump Contracted COVID-19

reporter 1222 — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 12:37:01 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Dr. Anthony Fauci says he’s not surprised US President Donald Trump contracted COVID-19 after he attended an event full of people not wearing masks or social distancing.

In an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday night, Fauci was asked if he was surprised that Trump wound up getting infected.

“Absolutely not. I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded, no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask,” Fauci said. “When I saw that on TV, I said, Oh, my goodness. Nothing good can come outta that, that’s gotta be a problem.’ And then sure enough, it turned out to be a superspreader event.”

Fauci was referring to the Rose Garden news conference in late September at which Trump announced that he was nominating Amy Coney Barrett to serve as a Supreme Court justice. Afterward, a number of people who participated in the event, including Trump, tested positive for COVID-19.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during the interview that Trump “sometimes equates wearing a mask with weakness,” which the doctor said doesn’t make sense. He said he believes Trump’s efforts to push back against his recommendations regarding the coronavirus pandemic has less to do with the president being “anti-science” and more with him making a statement.

“I think deep down, he believes in science. If he didn’t, he would not have entrusted his health to the very competent physicians at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center,” Fauci said about Trump’s recent visit to the hospital to receive treatment for COVID, NBC News reported.

In the wide-ranging interview, Fauci discussed a Trump campaign ad that he says took his words from earlier this year being taken out of context. He told CBS that he “got really ticked off” about that.

He also said that the White House has blocked him from going on a number of shows that have requested interviews with him.

“I think there has been a restriction,” Fauci said. “But it isn’t consistent.”

The post Fauci Says Not Surprised Trump Contracted COVID-19 appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Fauci blocked from Testifying

reporter 1222 — Sat, 02 May 2020 09:11:35 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The White House has blocked Dr. Anthony Fauci from testifying about the response to the coronavirus crisis before the US House Appropriations Committee, a spokesman for the committee said.

“The Appropriations Committee sought Dr. Anthony Fauci as a witness at next week’s Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 response. We have been informed by an administration official that the White House has blocked Dr. Fauci from testifying,” the spokesperson, Evan Hollander, said.

He’d been asked to appear on May 6.

But the White House said they will allow Fauci to testify at a Senate Health Committee hearing on May 12, a spokesperson for committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told NBC news.

Fauci, the head of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been a key adviser in the Trump administration’s fight against the coronavirus, and until recently, a fixture at the White House coronavirus briefings. He’s also sat for numerous media interviews on the virus, including on sports podcasts.

In a statement, White House spokesman Judd Deere said the May 6 hearing is not an “appropriate” time for Fauci to go before the House.

“While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings,” Deere said. “We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.”

In a joint statement, Appropriations chair Nita Lowey, D-NY, and subcommittee chair Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, said, “Congress and the American public deserve a clear-eyed view of the path forward for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

They said the hearing will proceed with hearing next week with testimony from Dr. Tom Frieden, who was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the Obama administration.

Fauci last testified about the virus before the House on March 11, when he warned, “We will see more cases and things will get worse than they are right now.” His testimony was cut short when he was called to a meeting on the virus at the White House.

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Fauci Says Not Surprised Trump Contracted COVID-19

Fauci blocked from Testifying