Why Dr. Fauci Will Have A Better Relationship With Biden Than Trump
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has taken a central role in national efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Throughout 2020, the American physician worked with President Donald Trump to inform people on how to stay safe and reduce the spread of the virus, encouraging people to stay home when possible and telling them what places should be avoided.
While Fauci and Trump seemed to collaborate amicably at the beginning of the pandemic, their relationship considerably soured. For instance, Fauci wasn't surprised when Trump caught COVID-19 in October 2020 and Trump didn't react kindly to comments made by Fauci on a 60 Minutes interview. Despite their differences, Fauci has continued to the best of his abilities to give information about the ongoing pandemic, including the truth about the new strain of COVID-19 found in the U.K. and what the implications could be for America.
The 2020 presidential election results mean that Trump will be replaced by President-elect Joe Biden, and Fauci actually spoke about his expectations around his relationship with the new president. In fact, Fauci expects to have a better relationship with Biden than he did with Trump. Here's what Fauci said.
Fauci expects to work more closely with Biden than he did with Trump
Dr. Fauci spoke about his hopes and expectations surrounding his relationship with President-elect Joe Biden in an interview with New York Daily News on Dec. 22, 2020. The Brooklyn-born physician noted his difficult relationship with Donald Trump and said of Biden, "I believe that my relationship with President-elect Biden will be on a much more frequent basis until we get this COVID-19 under control, in the sense of dealing with him directly much more."
"He is very much interested in personally seeing that this gets under control and that's very clear from the conversations I've had with him," Fauci added of Biden.
Fauci was particularly upset by the spread of misinformation about the virus and, later, about the vaccine, noting that he spends time every day on social media answering questions for people who have been led to believe that the science can't be trusted. While Fauci didn't directly refer to Trump and his administration, he still offered condemnation. "When you have mixed messages, or when you have a situation where scientists of some repute are questioned, then people get confused," Fauci added. "So that's the reason we've got to be very consistent as much as we possibly can."
Fauci expects his relationship with Biden to be more receptive and open, in contrast to the strained one he had with Trump. Per the Daily Mail, Trump has called Fauci both an "idiot" and a "disaster," so it's not surprising that Fauci's hopeful for a closer collaboration with Biden.