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White House Distances Itself From Latest Attack on Fauci

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - The White House distanced itself Wednesday from a new
   attack on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic by Dr. Anthony
   Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, even though a newspaper
   opinion article mirrored some of the same thoughts as those of
   President Donald Trump.

   White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in an opinion piece in the
   USA Today newspaper that Fauci "has a good bedside manner with the
   public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with
   him on."

   After the broadside was published, though, White House director of
   strategic communications, Alyssa Farah, said Navarro's article "didn't
   go through normal White House clearance processes and is the opinion of
   Peter alone."

   She said Trump "values the expertise of the medical professionals
   advising his administration."

     The Peter Navarro op-ed didn't go through normal White House
     clearance processes and is the opinion of Peter alone.
     [1]@realDonaldTrump values the expertise of the medical
     professionals advising his Administration.
     -- Alyssa Farah (@Alyssafarah) [2]July 15, 2020

   When asked about the article at the White House, Trump said, "That's
   Peter Navarro, but I have a very good relationship with Dr. Fauci."

   Yet Trump himself, as he tries to boost the flagging U.S. economy in
   the face of the unrelenting advance of the coronavirus pandemic, has
   voiced skepticism in recent days about the assessments of Fauci and
   other government medical experts.

   The president, facing a tough reelection contest in November against
   former Vice President Joe Biden, has for months downplayed the impact
   of the virus and most recently claimed that the impact of the new surge
   in the number of cases in the U.S. is 99% "totally harmless."

References

   1. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/Alyssafarah/status/1283377019183603720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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