Donald Trump is D-O-N-E done with the coronavirus pandemic.
During a conference call with campaign staffers, Trump expressed frustration with infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health officials calling them ‘idiots.’
From Politico:
“People are tired of Covid. People are saying, ‘Whatever, just leave us alone.’ People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots,” Trump said on the call, which included press.
“He’s been here for, like, 500 years. He’s like this wonderful sage telling us how — Fauci, if we listened to him, we’d have 700,000 [or] 800,000 deaths.”
Trump described Fauci as a “disaster” and added that “every time he goes on television, there’s always a bomb. But there’s a bigger bomb if you fire him.”
Trump also commented on the call that he “couldn’t care less” if the media reported the remarks.
“If there’s a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it. I couldn’t care less.”
Trump’s statement was probably in response to an interview Fauci gave CBS’s 60 Minutes where he told the venerable news magazine that Trump’s reluctance to wear a face mask in public is because he “equates wearing a mask with weakness.”
“You know, a statement of strength,” Fauci said. “Like, ‘We’re strong. We don’t need a mask.’ That kind of thing.”
Asked if that makes sense from a scientific stand point when facing a pandemic, Fauci answered, “No, it doesn’t. Of course not.”
“I think deep down, [the president] believes in science. If he didn’t, he would not have entrusted his health to the very competent physicians at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center,” says Dr. Fauci. https://t.co/JSDtvPknpO pic.twitter.com/pRBp8xrxvg
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 18, 2020
On call with campaign staff, President Trump says people are tired of hearing about coronavirus. “People are saying whatever. Just leave us alone. They’re tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots…Fauci is a nice guy. He’s been here for 500 years.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 19, 2020
Trump’s message two weeks out, based on call with staff:
-Dr. Fauci is a “disaster” who is a “bomb” every time he’s on TV
-Other health officials are “idiots”
-Americans no longer care about the pandemic and just think “whatever”
-News reports are “fake”— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) October 19, 2020
