Outgoing National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday on CNN’s “Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace?” that he could not be “complicit” with former President Donald Trump’s misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wallace asked, “What do you think of Donald Trump?
Fauci said, “Well, I don’t want to get into the politics of it, so it’s irrelevant what I think of Donald Trump.”
Wallace pressed, “What do you think of him from a public health standpoint?”
Fauci said, “You know, I had difficulty in that administration because what was happening is that it became very clear that things were being said by the president and those around him, which were just not based on any scientific fact and data. In fact, it was contrary to what the data was showing. I felt very uncomfortable about having to publicly get up at the White House press room and being put on the spot to directly disagree with the president. I have such a great deal of respect for the office of the presidency that it just made me very uncomfortable, but I had to do it, Chris, because I couldn’t stand there and be complicit in saying hydroxychloroquine works when it doesn’t, you know, bleach works, it doesn’t. That is how I evolved into public enemy number one of the far-right.”
He added, “But in order to maintain my own scientific and personal integrity, and most importantly, fulfill my responsibility to the American public, I had to do that.”
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