Trump bashes U.S. health experts, Fauci urges caution, as virus cases surge

By Lisa Lambert and Steve Holland

 

FILE PHOTO: Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 30, 2020. Kevin Dietsch/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday took a swipe at health experts in his government leading the U.S. response to the coronavirus, and one of them, Dr. Anthony Fauci, answered with an appeal for states to stick to guidelines to snuff out a surge in cases.

 

The Republican president, seeking re-election in November, has been increasingly critical of government health officials and their guidance as a steady rise in infections threatens the easing of shutdown restrictions across the country.

 

Trump retweeted to his 83 million followers the accusations of a former game show host that "everyone is lying," including the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

"The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust," Chuck Woolery wrote Sunday night without citing evidence.

 

Responding to reports that the White House distributed a list of perceived missteps made by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday said 'there was no opposition research being dumped to reporters' about the nation’s top infectious disease expert.

 

Last week, Trump said he thought CDC guidelines for schools reopening were too tough, impractical and expensive.

 

On Monday, Trump also retweeted an April post from Woolery's podcast co-host that Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, wants to require "an ID card to go shopping." As the spread of the coronavirus accelerated months ago, Fauci said it was possible the United States could in the future issue a certification of immunity.

 

The White House did not respond to questions on whether the president believed the CDC was lying.

 

Trump told reporters later at the White House: "I have a very good relationship with Dr. Fauci."

 

"I find him to be a very nice person. I don't always agree with him," Trump said.

 

Fauci on Monday ascribed the surge in coronavirus cases to the country's failure to shut down completely, then a rush to reopen too soon, and urged a commitment to guidelines to rub out the disease.

 

"All you needed to do was look at the films on TV of people in some states who went from shutdown to complete throwing caution to the wind - bars that were crowded, people without masks," Fauci said during a Stanford University event.

 

Fauci said he was confident the United States would get a handle on the virus "if we step back. You don't necessarily need to shut down again, but pull back a bit, and then proceed in a very prudent way of observing the guidelines, of going from step to step."

 

TENSIONS FLARE

Tensions with Fauci have risen with the decline of Trump's popularity in the polls over the president's handling of the outbreak. Fauci said in a Financial Times interview last week he had not briefed Trump in two months.

 

Fauci's emphasis on protections including physical distancing, wearing masks, avoiding crowds and washing hands have put him at odds with a president eager to get people back to work to boost the economy.

 

The White House over the weekend distributed a list of statements Fauci made early in the pandemic that turned out to be wrong as understanding of the disease developed, according to media reports. But the White House said that it only sent responses to dozens of questions it had received from the Washington Post.

 

Health officials and the CDC have pleaded with the public to wear masks to limit the spread of the virus, but the issue has become a politically divisive issue in the United States unlike in many other countries which have seen far lower rates of infection and death.

 

Trump wore a mask for the first time in public when he visited a Washington D.C.-area military medical centre on Saturday. He had previously refused to wear a mask in public or ask Americans to wear face coverings, saying it was a personal choice.

 

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Doina Chiacu and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Makini Brice and Jan Wolfe; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-14

 

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OMG, he has definitely lost touch with reality!

Yep, he's blowing his own reelection chances. Too bad. I did like his economy.

 

All he had to do was lead on the pandemic and he would have coasted home. Sure, the economy would have suffered, it's suffering anyway, but no one would have blamed him. Instead he picked a fight with the CDC, refused to mandate their recommendations or even do the simple symbolic act of wearing a mask. So by his own stupidity he's set himself up as the fall guy for the C-19 devastation of the US.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Trump retweeted to his 83 million followers the accusations of a former game show host that "everyone is lying," including the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

"The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust," Chuck Woolery wrote Sunday night

If anyone finds the plot that trump has now clearly lost, can they send it back to him courtesy of which ever golf club he is currently visiting. 

Does anyone really need more evidence that this man is unfit to be potus he’s acting like a petulant imbecile just article 25 the dude allready 

Digital St Vitus' Dance.They can't make his fingers stop....

2 hours ago, candide said:

OMG, he has definitely lost touch with reality!

Can’t agree as that infers at some stage he was in touch with reality. 

A 79 year old former game show host.   ????

 

Dr Fauci BTW is getting agitated, as the surge is going out of control, if it wasn't already. The US Federal government has no response as TRUMP decided months back its better to snipe than lead. 

Got a Full on Excrement Show going.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, LomSak27 said:

A 79 year old former game show host.

 

I guess we shouldn't be surprised if Chuck Wollery gets nominated to the Supreme Court. Maybe as Chief Justice given Roberts' health and left-leaning?

 

 

4 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

courtesy of which ever golf club he is currently visiting

I think visiting golf clubs is the best he can do for America. At least while he plays golf he does not mess anything up. 

Is there anybody out there who has to think if he/she should believe Trump or Fauchi? 

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Fauci deserves to be roundly bashed by everyone as his 'models' and other fantasy predictions have all been soundly disproven. 

He's basically a fraud. 

That sound like Mao's cultural revolution when asked his followers to bash up those who emphasized on science and expertise rather than his ideology. Didn't end well. 

8 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think visiting golf clubs is the best he can do for America. At least while he plays golf he does not mess anything up. 

He makes sure he doesn't mess things up whilst playing golf by wearing adult diapers.

Trump can do everything, Trump knows everything, better than any expert. Be it doctors, secret services, business experts, media people, engineers, health consultants, restaurant operators, soldiers, escort girls, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, bankers, auditors, IT specialists.

 

He's just a megalomaniac, inflated clown 

with a linguistic vocabulary of a maximum of 500 words. 

Trump sure hates hearing Covid is getting worse and nearly out of control. It means a sure loss of the election with a tanking economy. Combine that with his tone deaf and staggering failure in response to the Floyd situation and you have an electoral loss of humiliating proportions, just around the corner.

 

Demonize people all you want. You are nearly history. You are a dinosaur. See ya. Few are going to miss you and your epic failures. You will go down in history as 44, not 45. The 44th worst ever. 

19 minutes ago, heybruce said:

Assuming the first two points are correct (probably not, but let's assume) then over 300 million Americans have yet to contract the virus and that more than 4% will die when they do.  That would be over 12 million deaths.

 

With that in mind, we see that masks and restrictions are necessary and not political.  I suppose that's what the double negative in the final sentence means.

4% ? A mere drop in the bucket, The Black Plague wiped out 50% and they didn,t even close the bars ????

An inflammatory meme and all replies have been removed

A fact that's clear about the US. It has had some of the worst republican pres in last 50 years ! Not intelligent or crooks. Only good at winning some archiac voting system called the 'electoral college'.  

Edited July 14, 20205 yr by pixelaoffy

Wish the Dems were not so useless. This clown can’t be stopped . Lying, cheating, scandalising, and debt driven , he’s a hero to those wannabe great again nut jobs.

That's a truly horrible situation and its only positive effect will be that the failed POTUS will be voted out.

 

"What we got here.....is a failure to communicate." The virus is not obeying Trump.....it is refusing to listen to Trump's commands. How rude can a virus be?????? Why doesn't Trump do something about the virus instead of letting it run wild. I know how about some quarantining? Or travel prohibitions? Border closures? Lockdowns? Masks? Social distancing. These things seem to work. For some situations, democracy is not the best political system....in a situation like this a military dictator is the best option....someone who can command and lead. Trump is a big picture guy, no head for the detail and not an implementer, pretty useless in a crisis. Anyway, didn't he make Pence be in charge?

8 hours ago, Why Me said:

Yep, he's blowing his own reelection chances. Too bad. I did like his economy.

 

All he had to do was lead on the pandemic and he would have coasted home. Sure, the economy would have suffered, it's suffering anyway, but no one would have blamed him. Instead he picked a fight with the CDC, refused to mandate their recommendations or even do the simple symbolic act of wearing a mask. So by his own stupidity he's set himself up as the fall guy for the C-19 devastation of the US.

Yeah over-spending $890 billion in June was a masterstroke. He's upped the national debt by 30-40%. Wonderful. Like his own businesses have been bankrupt several times. He will bankrupt yer nation to save the stock markets and preserve the wealth of billionaires.

10 hours ago, candide said:

OMG, he has definitely lost touch with reality!

Continuously 

8 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Fauci deserves to be roundly bashed by everyone as his 'models' and other fantasy predictions have all been soundly disproven. 

He's basically a fraud. 

You are either a troll or missing any common sense.

There used to be such a thing as  'Serving at the pleasure of the President'. I'm surprised anyone in the US with any expertise in any field wants to put their head above the parapet now. 

Don't be an expert. Don't Iet anyone ask your advise. 

 

Problem is, these people have a social conscience and believe serving is for the greater general good. It's a pity that they seem not to be appreciated. A pity they are denegrated, ignored, parodied, satirized, by those who do not agree with them.

 

Deputy chief of staff for communications used to be known as speechwriter...

25 minutes ago, Scott Tracy said:

Deputy chief of staff for communications used to be known as speechwriter...

Exactly!   and not too effective in that role either, by the looks of it. 

11 minutes ago, Dap said:

Exactly!   and not too effective in that role either, by the looks of it. 

It’s a very easy job. You need a vocabulary of only 500 words, none more than three syllables, and you can be sure that half of the speech will be stuttered anyway. 

3 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

It’s a very easy job. You need a vocabulary of only 500 words, none more than three syllables, and you can be sure that half of the speech will be stuttered anyway. 

It's a very easy job. You just need to retweet.    

A post using a trolling meme and the replies have been removed. 

57 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

You are either a troll or missing any common sense.

Don't sell him short.  He could be both.