Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House coronavirus task forces, is signaling that he would be willing to serve on President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 task force.
Fauci was asked during an interview on CSPAN if he would serve on a coronavirus task force during Biden’s presidency if he was asked to.
He said, “Of course, yeah.”
“The answer is absolutely,” Fauci added.
Watch the video below:
Fauci has been one of the most visible members of the White House coronavirus task force.
However, he has had a tense relationship with President Donald Trump. That burst into the public sphere during the presidential campaign when the president’s campaign featured Fauci in an ad without his consent, as IJR reported.
The Trump campaign released an ad in October that featured a deceptively edited video from an interview Fauci gave in March that was designed to make it appear as though he was explicitly praising Trump’s handling of the virus.
Fauci put out a statement to clarify that he did not consent to appear in the ad and claimed the campaign was “harassing” him by using him in the ad.
Additionally, during a phone call with campaign staffers, Trump took a shot at the infectious disease expert and said Americans are “tired of hearing” from him. He added, “If we listened to him, we’d have 700,000 [or] 800,000 deaths.”
And during a rally shortly before the presidential election, Trump responded to a “fire Fauci” chant by suggesting, “Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election. I appreciate the advice.”
However, as of 12:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Fauci has not been fired.
While Fauci has had a contentious relationship with Trump, Biden has repeatedly praised him as a “man of integrity.”
On Tuesday, Biden told reporters that Fauci has been “very, very helpful” with the transition process — though he revealed he had not spoken to Fauci personally.
Biden has previously signaled he would reach out to ask Fauci to stay on the job if he won the election.
In a tweet in June, he wrote, “If I’m elected, I’ll immediately reach out to Dr. Fauci and ask him to continue his incredible service to our country.”
“I’ll have the nation’s top medical experts and scientists ready to advise our response on day one — and I’ll actually listen to them,” he added.