Donald Trump: Dr. Fauci a Better Pitcher than Federal Health Adviser

ESPN
Charlie Spiering

Former President Donald Trump criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci for his advice on battling the coronavirus pandemic in an interview released Monday.

“He’s a better pitcher of a baseball than he is at what he does because he is wrong so much,” Trump said, referring back to Fauci’s terrible opening pitch at Nationals Stadium in July 2020.

The former president spoke about Dr. Fauci during a podcast interview with Fox News host Lisa Marie Booth.

Trump said he liked Fauci personally, and praised him as a “nice guy” and a “great promoter” but disparaged his advice on the pandemic, noting the doctor’s flip-flop on wearing masks, his opposition to travel bans on China to contain the virus, and his desire for extended state and federal lockdowns.

“I listened to him but I didn’t do what he said,” Trump said, adding, “His record is not a good record.”

Trump said he opposed advice for continued extended lockdowns from federal doctors like Fauci and his coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx.

“Fauci’s been so wrong, so has Birx, they’ve been so wrong,” he said.

Even though Trump approved of the initial 15 days to “slow the spread” lockdowns and extended it to an additional 30 days, he said he ultimately allowed governors of states to reopen at their own pace.

He noted Republicans like Gov. Ron DeSantis correctly reopened their states while Democrats like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and California Gavin Newsom did not.

“The ones that shut down are the states that have done the worst, it’s sort of amazing, to be honest… they’ve ruined their economies they’ve ruined their states and their numbers aren’t better,” he said.

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