National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday to CNN Kasie Hunt that while it was unpleasant to maintain his integrity, he had no choice but to correct former President Donald Trump during the White House 2020 COVID press conferences if the president was forwarding misinformation.
Anchor Jake Tapper said, “In our health lead, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical advisor, opened up to Kasie Hunt of CNN about how he became a lightning rod for criticism during his time in the Trump administration. Take a listen.”
Hunt asked, “Can we talk for a second about what life has been like for you during the pandemic?”
She added, “I know you have gone from a hero to most Americans to someone who is now viewed as a divisive figure. I can’t imagine that that was something you thought that would happen to you when you took this job way back in 1984.”
Fauci said, “With the divisiveness during the Trump administration, it was no secret that I had to do something that was not pleasant and not comfortable, and I didn’t desire it. I had to be publicly correcting misrepresentation on the part of the president and on the part of people in the administration.”
He continued, “You know, the people who were talking about Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin and the virus is going to go away, it’s going to disappear. I had to maintain my integrity as well as my responsibility to the public to tell them the truth. That clearly alienated a lot of people.”
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