The White House is addressing speculation about Dr. Anthony Fauci following President Donald Trump’s retweet of a suggestion that he be fired.
Despite speculation of tension growing between Trump and the nation’s top infectious disease expert, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley released a statement blasting the media for presumptively taking the president’s words out of context.
According to Gidley, Trump “exposed media attempts to maliciously push a falsehood.”
“This media chatter is ridiculous,” Gidley’s statement read. “President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci. The president’s tweet clearly exposed media attempts to maliciously push a falsehood about his China decision in an attempt to rewrite history.”
“This media chatter is ridiculous – President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci…It was Democrats and the media who ignored Coronavirus…” pic.twitter.com/KCmvnnO23B
— Hogan Gidley 45 Archived (@hogangidley45) April 13, 2020
Gidley’s statement comes less than a day after Trump’s speculative tweet caught the attention of Twitter users.
On Sunday, the president retweeted former Congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine’s post that included a hashtag that suggested Fauci be fired, as previously reported on IJR.
With the retweet, Trump commented, “Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up. Thank you [One America News Network]”
Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up. Thank you @OANN https://t.co/d40JQkUZg5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2020
Almost immediately after posting the tweet, Twitter users began tweeting their reactions.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) also shared his opinion of the tweet and asked why should Fauci be fired. He also offered three reasons why Fauci shouldn’t be fired.
“[Fire Fauci?] For what? 3 things true 1. [Government of China] did & continues to mislead own people & world 2. Most nations & govts at various levels in U.S. including Fed Govt reacted slow because didn’t want to harm economy or be alarmists 3. Can’t change past but can avoid repeating it”
#FireFauci? For what?
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 13, 2020
3 things true
1.Govt of #China did & continues to mislead own people & world
2.Most nations & govts at various levels in U.S. including Fed Govt reacted slow because didn’t want to harm economy or be alarmists
3.Can’t change past but can avoid repeating it
Since the coronavirus began spreading in the United States, Fauci has been the top infectious disease expert on the Coronavirus Task Force. He and Dr. Deborah Birx have worked to accumulate data and statistics for the model projections that have contributed vastly to Trump’s decisions and handling of the coronavirus.