President Donald Trump believes the United States would be closed for a prolonged period of time if infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci had his way.
On Friday, Trump sat down for an interview with “Barstool Sports” host Dave Portnoy where he discussed the pandemic and his relationship with Fauci.
The president insists they have an amicable working relationship despite their disagreements on certain aspects regarding the pandemic.
“He’s actually a very nice guy. We don’t always agree on everything,” Trump said. “He’d like to do things that I don’t like to do, but ultimately I make the decision.”
Portnoy insisted he has taken an interest in day-trading “because every time [Fauci] talks and says the country should stay inside my stocks tank, so I don’t like that aspect of it.”
Trump went on to suggest Fauci would like to approach combating the spread of the virus by closing the country “for a couple of years.”
“Well, he’d like to see it closed up for a couple of years,” the president said. “But that’s okay because I’m president. So I’ll say, ‘Well, I appreciate your opinion, now give me another opinion, somebody please.’”
See Trump’s remarks below:
(PART 2) – @realDonaldTrump @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/O8G9JPwGR3
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) July 24, 2020
Trump’s remarks came as Fauci actually admitted that it is likely unnecessary for the United States to shut down completely again to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
During an interview on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” on Friday, the infectious disease expert weighed in on the possibility of a second pandemic shutdown, as previously reported on IJR.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to do that,” Fauci said. “You know it might come to that, but right now I think if you look at what’s going on in some of the southern states, particularly having the resurging of cases, you can put a pause on what you’re doing or even maybe take a step back.”
WATCH: Dr. Anthony Fauci weighs in on where the U.S. stands on COVID-19 vaccines and the current debate on lockdowns after the U.S. surpasses 4 million coronavirus cases #nine2noon pic.twitter.com/wUyTauqtZq
— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) July 24, 2020
As Trump and Fauci shared their opinions on shutting down the country, the United States faced its second-highest day for coronavirus cases reported in a single day with more than 73,700 cases on Friday.
There are more than 4.2 million known coronavirus cases in the United States as the death toll is over 148,000 and there are more than 2 million recoveries reported.