Former President Donald Trump admitted ignorance to reporter Megyn Kelly when asked about his promotion as Dr. Anthony Fauci during the COVID-19 pandemic – insisted he did not know who was responsible for giving the doctor the presidential commendation signed by Trump before he left the White House.
“Not only did you not fire Fauci, who was hated by many — millions of Republicans in particular, but also some Democrats — you made him a star,” Kelly said during an interview that aired Thursday on SiriusXM.
“This is a criticism of you, that you made him the face of the White House Coronavirus Task Force — he was out at every presser — that he ran a group for the administration on COVID, and that you actually gave him presidential praise before. you leave the office. Don’t you want to do that?” he asked.
“Ah… I don’t know who gave him the credit,” Trump, 77, replied. “I really don’t know who gave him the credit.”
“It’s a presidential compliment,” Kelly cut him off.
“I know,” Trump replied.
“One goes to Mark Milley, too,” Kelly said, referring to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whom Trump has also criticized.
“One might give him a compliment,” Trump said of the honor, given to Fauci during Trump’s last full day in office, Jan. 19, 2021 — and showed his signature.
Megyn Kelly is eager to hold Donald Trump’s feet to the fire and ask him tough questions. Youtube
“I overcame a lot of things he did. He’s more or less important to me,” Trump continued. “Now, with all that being said, he’s been there for years. He is respected. He lost a lot of respect because of COVID.”
“Regarding COVID, if you know what I do, I let governors run their states and many governors open their states. Some of them don’t,” he continued.
Last week, the campaign of Trump’s main GOP rival in the 2024 primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, released a letter from the Trump administration urging him to enact a mask mandate and other strict measures in January 2021.
DeSantis in particular has hammered Trump for his handling of the outbreak, accusing him of letting Fauci and fanatical public health officials run the show.
Trump has protested that DeSantis himself briefly imposed several strict measures to curb the spread of the highly contagious respiratory disease.
The 77-year-old former president has continued to distance himself from Fauci, whom he previously argued he should not shoot.
Conservatives are angry with Dr. Anthony Fauci for encouraging people to wear masks and get vaccinated.UPI
“I’m not a big fan of Fauci,” Trump continued to Kelly. “If you look at Ron DeSanctimonious – this guy says the greatest things. I can give you an article. ‘Fauci is great. He’s great. We love him. We don’t do anything without Fauci.’ This went on for months.”
Trump later lamented that he didn’t get enough credit from conservatives for his pandemic response.
“We’re doing an incredible job,” Trump said. “They appreciate what I do with the economy. I got a lot of good marks in economics, got a lot of good marks [on] rebuilding the military, getting rid of ISIS, the biggest tax cut in history.”
The former Fox News host has criticized other right-leaning reporters for demonizing 2024 GOP candidates and tossing softballs their way.Youtube
Donald Trump insisted that the epidemic was a freak event that no one was prepared for.Getty Images
“I never got the credit I deserved on COVID.”
Another gripe among conservatives is Trump’s eyed development of a COVID-19 vaccine, which has limited serious illness but is ineffective at stopping the spread of the virus.
“I never gave a mandate and people have to make up their own minds, you know, make up their own minds, as far as I’m concerned,” Trump said of the vaccine.
Kelly and Trump famously clashed during the first Republican debate of the 2016 campaign, where the then-Fox News star took him out on a past derogatory remark.
Donald Trump is the undisputed front-runner in the 2024 GOP race. Youtube
Stunned by the question, Trump raged against it for months and skipped subsequent Fox News debates co-hosted by Kelly.
Both said they had mended fences. Kelly’s interview with Trump, which took place on Wednesday, marked the first time in seven years that she had done a sit-down with him.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
