Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump supporters turn on White House disease expert Dr Fauci and wildly accuse him of being a Clinton plant

Pro-Trump supporters have begun to turn on NIAID director as president hints at lifting coronavirus measures 

Gino Spocchia
Wednesday 25 March 2020 16:40 GMT
Comments
Dr Fauci: Americans will have to stay at home for several weeks

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Fringe supporters of Donald Trump have turned on the White House disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci, as rumours about tension between the pair were aired this week.

As the US president called for an end to the economic shutdown on Monday, the New York Times reported that Mr Trump was tiring of Dr Fauci contradicting him in public.

Mr Fauci cautioned that the coronavirus pandemic would not come to a sudden end by Easter, the President’s preferred date for ending emergency measures.

Pro-Trump blogs and pundits have accused Mr Fauci of siding with the ‘Deep State’, with some far-right Republicans viewing the 79-year-old as an establishment figure obstructing the president.

Podcast host, Ben Mitchell, said he hoped Mr Trump was listening, and called the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) “Dr Doom Fauci”.

He said on Twitter: “Has anyone else noticed that every suggestion by Dr Doom Fauci just happens to also be the worst possible thing for the economy?”

“That’s not an accident folks. That’s Hillary,” added Mr Mitchell.

The accusation that NAID director was also a plant for Hillary Clinton has appeared in pro-Trump blogs in recent days.

Mr Fauci was described by The Gateway Pundit as a “Hillary Clinton fanboy”, after it obtained two emails stolen by Wikileaks in which the disease expert praised Ms Clinton.

On Tuesday, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president angered Trump supporters with a caution “not [to] take medical advice from a man who looked directly at a solar eclipse”.

Republicans and most Trump supporters have, however, moved to back Mr Fauci. “I think he’s obviously excellent at his job, and I think he’s aware that he’s on that stage to offer detail and help finesse language, and he seems cool with it,” said Raheem Kassam, the former editor of Breitbart London and host of the podcast “War Room”.

On Tuesday, the president appeared to rebuke claims about his relationship with Mr Fauci, after he called his performance “very good”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in