Dr. Anthony Fauci is weighing in to discuss President Donald Trump’s goal to reopen the U.S. economy by Easter — April 12.
Fauci appeared on Fox News with Laura Ingraham on Tuesday evening to discuss the coronavirus response efforts.
Ingraham raised a question about the rumored tension between Trump and Fauci noting how the media “seems to enjoy… looking for the tension between you and the president.”
When asked about the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing where Trump hinted at restarting the economy by Easter, Dr. Fauci said, “It’s a back-and-forth, the president clearly listens.”
He went on to describe Trump’s timeline as “aspirational.” Fauci also noted the importance of flexibility during this critical time.
“We talk to him about that, we say we need to be flexible, he realizes that, and he accepts that,” Fauci said. “He doesn’t want to give up his aspirational goal, but he’s flexible enough to say, ‘Okay, let’s look at it on a day-by-day basis.’”
The 79-year-old doctor also shed light on the side of Trump that Americans do not normally see.
“Even though it looks like he’s made this absolute decision on something, he does have an open mind about it,” Fauci said.
Check out Fauci’s remarks below:
Fauci’s latest interview follows the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Tuesday where the president expressed his desire to restart the economy as early as the week of Easter.
Despite the accelerated rise in the number of positive coronavirus cases, Trump appears adamant to restart the economy and get Americans back to work.
While Trump offered no specific economic reason for his desire to restart the economy so quickly, he did say he thought it would be “a beautiful time.”
At the time, CNN White House correspondent Kaitlin Collins asked Trump about the accelerated timeline. She asked if his experts — including Fauci — indicated whether or not his projected timeline is feasible.
Collins also asked who suggested Easter. That is when Trump said, “I just thought it was a beautiful time, a beautiful timeline.”
“So that wasn’t based on any of the data?” Collins pressed.
“It was based on a certain level of weeks from the time we started,” Trump said. “And it happened to arrive, actually we were thinking in terms of sooner. I’d love to see it come even sooner.”
See Trump’s comments below
"I just thought it was a beautiful time, a beautiful time, a beautiful timeline." pic.twitter.com/8cuYNtB7It
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) March 24, 2020
The United States has more than 55,000 positive coronavirus cases, as of Wednesday morning.