Trump's retweet raises doubts about Fauci's future

US President Donald Trump retweeted a call to fire Dr Anthony Fauci after the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases said lives could have been saved if the country had shut down sooner during the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Trump retweeted a message on Sunday from a former Republican congressional candidate who cited Fauci’s comments in a television interview by CNN’s “State of the Union,” and tweeted “time to #FireFauci.”

Trump in the past has repeated critical tweets of officials or enemies rather than make the criticism himself. The retweet fueled speculation Trump was running out of patience. The White House did not comment yesterday.

As a leader in the fight against the coronavirus, Fauci has contradicted or corrected Trump on scientific matters during the public health crisis, including whether the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is effective against the coronavirus.

Fauci commented during Sunday’s interview that the economy in parts of the country could have a “rolling reentry” as early as next month, provided health authorities can quickly identify and isolate people who will inevitably be infected. He also said he “can’t guarantee” that it will be safe for Americans to vote in person on Election Day.

When asked if earlier action on social distancing and “stay-at-home” policies could have saved lives, Fauci responded in part: “It’s very difficult to go back and say that. I mean, obviously, you could logically say that if you had a process that was ongoing and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. Obviously, no one is going to deny that. But what goes into those kinds of decisions is complicated.”

Already a target of the far-right for his contradictions of Trump, Fauci drew more opprobrium after the interview.

Last week during the daily White House coronavirus briefing, Trump stepped in and prevented Fauci from answering a question about hydroxychloroquine.

“He won’t fire Fauci today,” tweeted Joe Lockhart, press secretary to former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

“He needs to humiliate him a while first. And one thing you can really count on ... He won’t have the guts to do it himself.”