U.S. president targets Fauci between rallies
Trump blasts his own scientific experts as being too negative on virus
TUCSON, ARIZ.— U.S. President Donald Trump came out swinging Monday against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the media and polls that show him trailing Democrat Joe Biden in key battleground states in a disjointed closing message two weeks out from Election Day
On the third day of a western campaign swing, Trump was facing intense pressure to turn around his campaign, hoping for the type of last-minute surge that gave him a comefrom-behind victory four years ago. But his inconsistent message, the newly rising virus cases and his attacks on experts such as Fauci could undermine his final efforts to appeal to voters outside his most loyal base.
“I’m not running scared,” Trump told reporters shortly after taking off for Tucson, Ariz., for his fifth rally in three days. “I think I’m running angry.” He later said he was also running “happy” and “very content.”
His aggressive travel comes as Trump plays defence in states he won four years ago, though the president insisted he was confident as he executed a packed schedule despite the pandemic.
“We’re going to win,” he told campaign staff on a morning conference call from Las Vegas. He went on to acknowledge: “I wouldn’t have told you that maybe two or three weeks ago,” referring to the days when he was hospitalized with COVID-19.
Seeking to shore up the morale of his staff, Trump blasted his government’s own scientific experts as too negative, even as his handling of the pandemic that has killed nearly 220,000 Americans remains a central issue to voters.
“People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots,” Trump said of the government’s top infectious disease expert. “Every time he goes on television, there’s always a bomb. But there’s a bigger bomb if you fire him. But Fauci’s a disaster.”
The doctor is both respected and popular, and Trump’s rejection of scientific advice on the pandemic has already drawn bipartisan condemnation.
Fauci, in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, said he was not surprised Trump contracted the virus after he held a series of large events with few face coverings.