Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday revealed that he had no right to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci but clarified that the White House’s COVID czar was not a “big player” in his administration during the outbreak.
“The biggest knock on your presidency is that you kept Dr. Fauci,” conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt asked the former president. “Why did you keep Dr. Fauci?”
“First of all, you’re not allowed. He’s a public servant, and you’re not allowed to fire him,” Trump, 77, replied.
“But forget that, because I don’t necessarily go with everything. But Dr. Fauci would tell me things, and I wouldn’t, in many cases. But also, he is not a big player in my administration.”
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under Trump and President Biden pushed back against aggressive masking and social distancing mandates in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“Dr. Fauci became a big player in the Biden administration. He’s a very big player in the Biden administration,” Trump told Hewitt, adding that the White House chief medical adviser “is a radical without a mask” who “becomes a super radical mask” from time to time.
Former President Donald Trump said in an interview Wednesday that he had no right to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci but added that the White House’s COVID czar was not a “big player” in his administration during the outbreak.EPA
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is a distant second to Trump in the 2024 GOP primary, has often criticized the former president for his decision to keep the White House’s COVID czar on board.Getty Images
At a rally in Florida days before the 2020 vote, however, the former president floated the idea that he would let Fauci go after winning re-election.
“Don’t tell anyone, but let me wait until a little after the election. I appreciate that advice,” Trump told the audience as he shouted, “Fire Fauci! Fire Fauci!”
The doctor is also part of the Trump administration’s “Operation Warp Speed” effort to speed up COVID vaccinations.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is a distant second to Trump in the 2024 GOP primary, has often criticized the former president for keeping Fauci.AFP via Getty Images
Fauci is not a political appointee of the Trump administration, which would make his dismissal difficult, but federal civil service employees may be ousted for misconduct or unacceptable performance.
If he is fired, Fauci will also be able to appeal the decision to the Merit System Protection Board, which hears the matter.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is a distant second to Trump in the 2024 GOP primary, has often criticized the former president for his decision to keep Fauci.
“The biggest knock on your presidency is that you kept Dr. Fauci,” conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt told Trump. AFP via Getty Images
During the first Republican presidential debate last month, DeSantis, 44, declared he would fire Fauci if he was in office during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“[W]Ron DeSantis said on the debate stage you didn’t fire Fauci and you shut down the country and that was a mistake, how are you going to respond?” Hewitt asked Trump.
“He said he wouldn’t let anyone in. He closed his beach. He shut down the whole state,” Trump said, adding that he would later share five or six articles about “Ron DeSanctimonious” and “how much he loves Dr. Fauci.”
Fauci is not a political appointee of the Trump administration, which would make his dismissal difficult, but federal civil service employees may be removed for misconduct or unacceptable performance.REUTERS
The article, which the Trump campaign has widely shared, refers to DeSantis’ praise for the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force in the early weeks of the outbreak, saying its members — including Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx and former Vice President Mike Pence – are “really doing a good job.”
Trump also singled out South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem for having implemented better COVID policies than DeSantis during the interview.
Florida lifted its stay-at-home order before South Carolina in 2020. South Dakota has never issued a statewide COVID mandate.
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under Trump and President Biden pushed back against aggressive masking and social distancing mandates in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
DeSantis also suspended local COVID-19 emergency orders and signed legislation to ban future mask mandates and social distancing measures before McMaster in 2021.
South Carolina’s governor revoked his state’s emergency declaration weeks before Florida’s in June 2021.
Trump also slammed DeSantis for presiding over the third-worst COVID-19 death rate.
The Trump campaign shared an article this week showing DeSantis’ praise for the White House Coronavirus Task Force in the early weeks of the outbreak.UPI
“And by the way, just so you know it sounds very negative, the third most in deaths from COVID? Unfortunately, Florida,” he said. “Florida is third worst in deaths. So Ron — and that’s a horrible statistic — but it’s a statistic that counts.”
South Carolina and South Dakota also had worse death rates than Florida in 2020, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2021, the Palmetto State had the 10th worst death rate, the Sunshine State had the 18th worst death rate and the Mount Rushmore State had the 37th worst death rate.
Florida had the fourth and third most deaths from COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Its population is about 21 million, while South Carolina has about 5 million residents and South Dakota has less than 1 million.
Allies of DeSantis on Thursday rejected the former president’s characterization of Florida’s COVID mandate, send mail online that the Trump White House Coronavirus Task Force sent to governors asking for mask mandates and further social distancing.
Florida did not comply with the request.
DeSantis trails nearly 38 percentage points behind Trump in the latest RealClearPolitics national polling average.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
