TRUMP NOT FIRING DR. FAUCI, DESPITE TWEET: OFFICIAL

WASHINGTON The White House said on Monday that President Donald Trump was not firing U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, pictured, despite his retweet of a supporter’s #FireFauci message.

“This media chatter is ridiculous — President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci,” said White House spokesman Hogan Gidley. “Dr. Fauci has been and remains a trusted adviser to President Trump.”

Trump retweeted a call to fire Dr. Fauci after the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases said lives could have been saved if the country had shut down sooner during the outbreak.

The president in the past has repeated critical tweets of officials or enemies rather than make the criticism himself. The retweet fuelled speculation Trump was running out of patience with the scientist and could fire him.

Fauci has corrected Trump on scientific matters during the public health crisis. He was asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” about early virus warnings to the White House. “Obviously, it would have been nice if we had a better head start, but I don’t think you could say that we are where we are right now because of one factor,” he said.