Dr. Anthony Fauci is not worried about the “Fire Fauci” hashtag having an influence on his involvement with the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
During an interview with C-SPAN’s Steve Scully on “Washington Journal,” Fauci was asked about his reaction to the hashtag. Fauci admitted he was not worried about the hashtag or the speculation.
“This is the world we live in,” Fauci said. “You’re going to see things like that all the time.”
He added, “That’s the world we live in, I accept it, it doesn’t bother me.”
Scully went on to ask Fauci whether or not President Donald Trump has the authority to fire him, asking, “Can the president fire you?”
“It depends on what you mean by ‘fire me,'” Fauci said. “I’m on the task force serving at his pleasure. He can remove me from the task force. I was with him for quite a while today. He has no intention of doing that.”
Check out Fauci’s interview:
.@SteveScully: "When you saw the hashtag #FireFaucci, what was your immediate reaction?"
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 14, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci: "This is the world we live in…I accept it. It doesn't bother me."
Full @cspanwj video here: https://t.co/2TOzfzJer6 pic.twitter.com/gYC5oIMgRk
Scully asked if the White House had a plan in place to continue the coronavirus response efforts in the event they did opt to remove Fauci from the task force.
Again, Fauci dismissed the possibility of him being removed but also noted that there would likely be someone competent enough to carry out the response efforts.
“If it does, I’m sure there’s a lot of competent people around,” Fauci continued. “I’m sure they can get somebody to do that.”
Fauci also told Scully he had spent some time with the president prior to their interview. Once again, he confirmed there was no tension between the two of them.
The infectious disease expert’s latest interview follows a string of reports stemming from a speculative tweet that Trump shared suggesting that Fauci be fired.
Despite the stir caused by the tweet, Trump and the White House have also refuted the claims.