24 hours after the American elections on November 3, the showdown between the American president has arrived Donald Trump and the US immunologist Anthony Fauci, called by the White House to lead the task force dedicated to dealing with the coronavirus emergency. A task force that the president has completely ignored for more than a month, preferring to listen to the advice of neuroradiologist Scott Atlas.
The tension between the two has been high for months now, with Trump never sparing barbs at his expert and with the latter who, like all scientists, has always called for prudence and respect for the rules.
During a rally in Florida, some Trump supporters began to sing the chant "Licenzia Fauci". Responding to his supporters, the president said: “Don't tell anyone, but let me wait a bit after the election”. And he added: "I appreciate the suggestion."
Trump's words come following an interview with Anthony Fauci al The Washington Post, in which the immunologist declared that the United States is not in a good position in the fight against Covid, because the president is facing the pandemic by looking only at the economic aspect of the crisis. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place because we go into fall and winter, with people gathering indoors, we couldn't be worse off,” she explained. We need “a clear change in public health policies and practices or we risk exceeding 100 new infections per day“.
But the part of the interview that infuriated the tycoon the most is yet to come. Indeed, Fauci praised his challenger's approach to the pandemic in the White House, Joe Biden, who would be (as opposed to Trump) "taking the situation seriously from a health point of view". An endorsement that comes a few days before the presidential elections on November 3 and that could score the definitive break between Trump and Fauci after months of fighting at a distance.
Fauci also lashed out at Atlas, now the presidency's main adviser on the pandemic. “I have a real problem” with Atlas, “he's a brilliant guy who claims things that I think he has no real knowledge or experience of,” said the doctor. He says he's not aiming for herd immunity, but everything he says points to the fact “that it doesn't make a difference if people get infected. That the masks don't work ”.
The White House reacted harshly to Fauci's interview. Judd Deere spokesman argued that it is "unacceptable" that Fauci "violates all the rules" by deciding to "go into politics" on the eve of the vote.
Recall that at the moment the United States is the first country in the world for the number of infections from Covid-19 (over 9 million), but also for the number of deaths (over 230 thousand).
