Dr. Anthony Fauci is not letting President Donald Trump’s remarks regarding his stance on face masks slide by.
Speaking on masks during the debate as the country combats the coronavirus pandemic, Trump claimed that Fauci initially said “very strongly” that “masks are not good — then he changed his mind.”
Additionally, when Biden said that masks could save up to hundred-thousand lives if everyone wore a mask and socially distanced for the next few months. However, Trump claimed in response, “Dr. Fauci said the opposite.”
In case you missed it:
However, Fauci, who serves on the White House coronavirus task force, is pushing back on Trump’s claims. He told ABC News’ “Start Here” podcast that those claims were “taken out of context.”
“Very early on in the pandemic … there was a shortage of PPE and masks for health care providers who needed them desperately since they were putting their lives and their safety on the line every day,” Fauci explained. “So the feeling was that people who were wanting to have masks in the community, namely just people out in the street, might be hoarding masks and making the shortage of masks even greater.”
He added, “In that context, we said that we did not recommend masks.”
Fauci said that once there was more information from scientists about COVID-19 on asymptomatic infection, “then all of a sudden, it became clear that you would not know if you were infected or if the person that you were dealing with was infected.”
“And at that point, it became clear that A: no shortage of masks, B: data now prove that masks work and 3: there clearly is asymptomatic transmission,” he continued.
In many interviews since, Fauci has been “begging people to wear masks,” physically distance, and avoid crowds.
“The other thing that became clear is, in fact, that there was likely a degree of aerosol transmission which make it even more compelling to wear a mask,” Fauci said.
Fauci also appeared on WIRED where he said, “I must have said, maybe several tens of thousands of times the importance of wearing masks…If there was an interpretation that I’m not for masks, that’s a misinterpretation.”
See Fauci’s remarks below:
"I must have said, maybe several tens of thousands of times the importance of wearing masks … If there was an interpretation that I'm not for masks, that's a misinterpretation."
— WIRED (@WIRED) October 1, 2020
In case there was any doubt, Dr. Fauci makes clear his stance on masks: https://t.co/4XBbtpV7ii pic.twitter.com/S2GtpZ9Edu
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made it clear that if he is elected president in the upcoming election that “minutes after the race is called, I’ll call Dr. Fauci and ask him to stay on.”
“During my transition, I’ll bring together experts and leaders from both parties to chart a path forward,” Biden declared on Sept. 26. “We will overcome this, together.”
The U.S. has over 7.2 million reported positive coronavirus cases and over 206,800 deaths. There are also more than 4.7 million reported recoveries from COVID-19 in the country.
With the coronavirus pandemic, the election year looks different. Trump and Biden kicked off the first of three presidential debates on Tuesday. However, the debate was not received well by many as the two repeatedly clashed and spoke over one another. The 2020 presidential election will be held on November 3.