Targeting Tony Fauci The press baits Trump to fire his most visible coronavirus adviser.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/targeting-tony-fauci-11586819293?mod=opinion_lead_pos3
The U.S. may be fighting through a public health and economic emergency, but for the media resistance the most important story is always Donald Trump. Monday was again dominated by breathless reports about Mr. Trump’s relationship with Anthony Fauci after the President retweeted something that included a #FireFauci hashtag. While Mr. Trump’s antagonists feign protectiveness of Dr. Fauci and horror that Mr. Trump might question expert judgment, the truth is they are eager for a public brawl that will hurt the President politically.
Monday’s dust-up was prompted by an interview Dr. Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, gave Sunday on CNN. Host Jake Tapper, fishing for criticism of the Trump Administration, compared the U.S. to South Korea and pressed Dr. Fauci on whether “lives could have been saved” if the U.S. started shutting down in February.
Dr. Fauci was reluctant to take the bait, saying it was “little bit unfair” to compare the U.S. to South Korea but said that of course earlier shutdowns could have made a difference. CNN ran with the headline “Fauci admits earlier Covid-19 mitigation efforts would have saved more American lives.”
The media have been seeking for weeks to create a narrative that Mr. Trump and Dr. Fauci are at odds. In a March 22 interview, Science magazine asked Dr. Fauci “How are you managing to not get fired?” He answered that the President listens to his counsel. The reporter pressed with questions like, “You’ve been in press conferences where things are happening that you disagree with, is that fair to say?” Dr. Fauci replied that “I don’t disagree in the substance” and eventually ended the interview early.
Dr. Fauci said later that week that he wished efforts to pit him against the President would stop and added that “there are not differences. The President has listened to what I have said.” The media bait continued with a March 26 Washington Post story titled, “As Trump signals readiness to break with experts, his online base assails Fauci.” The Post also tweeted that “Trump trails Fauci by 26 percent in public approval of coronavirus response,” as if the two are running a campaign against each other.
Mr. Trump can overrule his public health experts on the extent of mitigation the country can sustain, and no doubt the two disagree from time to time. With food lines forming across the U.S., the virus is not the only public health threat to the American people.
Yet Dr. Fauci doesn’t strike us as the sort to bail out easily even if his advice isn’t taken, as long as he thinks he can air his views honestly. At Monday’s virus task force briefing, Dr. Fauci pushed back at the press for its insinuations, and when a reporter asked if he was doing it “voluntarily,” he snapped “don’t even imply that.”
Dr. Fauci is a valuable communicator and has improved public confidence in the Administration’s coronavirus response. Many in the press can’t stomach that. Their favorite frame about Mr. Trump is that he is rejecting advice from his expert and bureaucratic betters. The White House said Monday that Mr. Trump has no intention of firing Dr. Fauci, which is wise. No one would be more delighted if Dr. Fauci got the boot than the media resistance.
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