In an attempt to deflect blame for his failure to deal with the pandemic, President Trump is fighting the experts harder than he is fighting coronavirus: Trump is currently waging a smear campaign against Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s foremost experts on infectious disease and a member of Trump’s own task force. But the attacks on Fauci are just the administration’s latest salvo in its assault on science: as cases surge and the death toll rises, the White House is inexplicably stripping away hospital data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, undermining its own agencies, and silencing the voices of members of the administration who have tried to sound the alarm on the severity of the virus.
The Trump Administration Is Engaging In A Multifaceted Smear Campaign Against Dr. Anthony Fauci
- Trump On July 10, 2020: “Dr. Fauci Is A Nice Man, But He’s Made A Lot Of Mistakes.” “’Dr. Fauci is a nice man, but he’s made a lot of mistakes,’ Trump said. ‘A lot of them said don’t wear a mask, don’t wear a mask,” the president added. ‘Now they are saying wear a mask. A lot of mistakes were made, a lot of mistakes.’” [NBC News, 7/10/20]
- White House Deputy Chief Of Staff For Communications Dan Scavino Posted An Image Mocking Dr. Anthony Fauci That Was Made By An Artist Who Has Been Accused Of Creating Anti-Semitic Imagery. “But Dan Scavino, the White House deputy chief of staff for communications, undercut that message by posting a cartoon mocking Dr. Fauci by an artist whose work has been criticized for its anti-Semitic imagery. Mr. Scavino on Sunday posted on Facebook a rendering of Dr. Fauci that likened him to a faucet drowning Uncle Sam — in the case, representing the economy — with water drops labeled with mock public health warnings considered antithetical to White House policy: ‘Schools stay closed this fall!’ ‘Indefinite lockdown!’ ‘Shut up and obey!’” [New York Times, 7/14/20]
[New York Times, 7/14/20] - The White House Has Been Circulating Opposition Research On Dr. Anthony Fauci, Sending Reporters A List Of Comments Fauci Made Early In The Coronavirus Crisis In An Effort To Undermine Fauci’s Expertise. “The White House has sent reporters at several mainstream media organizations a lengthy list of comments Dr. Anthony Fauci made early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, in an apparent push to undermine the nation’s top federal infectious disease expert after he publicly disagreed with President Trump’s optimistic assessment of the growing outbreak in the U.S.” [The Week, 7/13/20]
- On July 11, The White House Released A Statement Saying: “Several White House Officials Are Concerned About The Number Of Times Dr. Fauci Has Been Wrong On Things.” “A White House official released a statement saying that “several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things” and included a lengthy list of the scientist’s comments from early in the outbreak.” [Washington Post, 7/11/20]
- Assistant To The President Peter Navarro For USA Today: “Anthony Fauci Has Been Wrong About Everything I Have Interacted With Him On.” Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on… Now Fauci says a falling mortality rate doesn’t matter when it is the single most important statistic to help guide the pace of our economic reopening. The lower the mortality rate, the faster and more we can open. So when you ask me whether I listen to Dr. Fauci’s advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution.” [USA Today, Peter Navarro, 7/14/20]
This Is Not The First Time Trump Has Attempted To Silence Experts — Trump Has A History Of Undermining His Own Agencies And Repeatedly Trying To Remove Those Who Disagree With Him From Office
- Trump Retweeted A Far-Right Media Personality Who Accused Scientists And The CDC Of “Lying” About COVID-19. “The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most ,that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.” [Twitter, Chuck Woolery, 7/15/20]
- Trump Smeared The CDC For Asking Schools To Do “Impractical” Things To Protect Student Safety. “I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!” [Twitter, Donald Trump, 7/8/20]
- The White House Rejected CDC Guidelines For Reopening, Deeming Them “Overly Prescriptive” And Blocking Their Publication. “A copy of the C.D.C. guidance obtained by The New York Times includes sections for child care programs, schools and day camps, churches and other ‘communities of faith,’ employers with vulnerable workers, restaurants and bars, and mass transit administrators. The recommendations include using disposable dishes and utensils at restaurants, closing every other row of seats in buses and subways while restricting transit routes among areas experiencing different levels of coronavirus infection, and separating children at school and camps into groups that should not mix throughout the day. But White House and other administration officials rejected the recommendations over concerns that they were overly prescriptive, infringed on religious rights and risked further damaging an economy that Mr. Trump was banking on to recover quickly. One senior official at the Department of Health and Human Services with deep ties to religious conservatives objected to any controls on church services.” [New York Times, 5/7/20]
- Trump Removed Vaccine Expert Rick Bright From His Position In The Department Of Health And Human Services After Bright Pressed For Vetting Of Hydroxychloroquine. “The official who led the federal agency involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine said on Wednesday that he was removed from his post after he pressed for rigorous vetting of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug embraced by President Trump as a coronavirus treatment, and that the administration had put ‘politics and cronyism ahead of science.’ Rick Bright was abruptly dismissed this week as the director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, and removed as the deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response. He was given a narrower job at the National Institutes of Health.” [New York Times, 4/22/20]
- Trump Removed Christi A. Grimm, Principal Deputy Inspector General Of The Department Of Health And Human Services, After Grimm Released A Report Highlighting Shortages Of Testing And PPE At Hospitals. “President Trump moved to replace the top watchdog at the Department of Health and Human Services after her office released a report on the shortages in testing and personal protective gear at hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic. In a Friday night announcement, the White House nominated a permanent inspector general to take the reins from Christi A. Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general who has run the office since January.” [Washington Post, 5/2/20]
Trump Has Tried To Remove Scientists And Public Health Officials From The Spotlight In His Coronavirus Response
- By Mid-June, As Coronavirus Was Starting To Surge In Sunbelt States, Members Of The Coronavirus Task Force Admitted To A House Subcommittee That It Had Been Weeks Since They Had Spoken To President Trump. “Asked by Rep. Barragan, CDC Director Robert Redfield won’t say when was the last time he spoke to Trump; [Dr. Anthony] Fauci says it’s been about 2.5 weeks. [Testing Czar Adm. Brett] Giroir says about three weeks. Hahn says it’s been ‘some time’ since they talked ‘pandemic response’ but they spoke ‘a couple weeks ago’” [Twitter, Manu Raju, 6/23/20]
- The CDC, “Muzzled, Neutered And Exiled,” Has Held Only Two Public Briefings After More Than Three Months Of Silence — During H1N1, The CDC Held Public Briefings Almost Every Day For Six Weeks. The Washington Post reported on ways health officials felt the Trump administration had muzzled the CDC: “Jeffrey Duchin, the health officer at Seattle and King County health department, added: ‘Agree. Muzzled, neutered and exiled.’ The agency has been largely invisible. After more than three months of silence, it resumed briefings for the public last month. There have been two. By comparison, when the H1N1 swine flu pandemic hit the United States in the spring of 2009, the CDC held briefings almost every day for six consecutive weeks.” [Washington Post, 7/9/20]
- In May, The White House’s Coronavirus Task Force Meetings Were Scaled Back To Once A Week And The Task Force Became Mostly Idle. “Trump’s shifting approach in May had tangible consequences. The White House’s coronavirus task force, which Trump toyed with disbanding in early May, is now mostly idle and has scaled back meetings to once a week.” [Washington Post, 5/31/20]
- White House Officials Say Trump Sought To Disband The Coronavirus Task Force Due To His Aversion To Sharing The Spotlight, Especially With A Doctor “Lionized For His Clear Factual Explanations Of The Science.” “As he toured a Honeywell mask plant in Arizona on May 5, Trump — who wore goggles but no mask, despite signs on the factory floor urging any visitor to do so — told reporters that he was eager to see the task force wind down. This caught Fauci by surprise… White House officials, however, knew Trump’s move was rooted in his aversion to sharing the spotlight, especially with a physician who was being lionized for his clear, factual explanations of the science and health risks.” [Washington Post, 5/31/20]