Trump, Will He Ultimately Dismiss US COVID-19 Hero 'Director Fauci'?

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Attention is being drawn to signs that U.S. President Donald Trump is stoking efforts to dismiss Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). President Trump has publicly expressed dissatisfaction, including retweeting posts calling for Fauci's removal.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 12th (local time), President Trump retweeted a tweet by former Republican Representative Diana L. Lauren regarding Dr. Fauci. Former Representative Lauren said, "Dr. Fauci says that if President Trump had listened to medical experts, more lives could have been saved," adding, "(However) on February 29, Dr. Fauci said that COVID-19 is generally not a threat to the American public and there is no need to worry. It is time to dismiss Fauci." This indirectly indicated that President Trump sympathizes with Lauren's view.

Dr. Fauci is a member of the White House's novel coronavirus (COVID-19) task force. He has spoken frankly, sometimes contradicting President Trump's statements, earning considerable trust within American society.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

In a recent interview with CNN, Dr. Fauci stated, "Logically speaking, if we had taken measures earlier, more lives could have been saved," which sparked controversy. Earlier, U.S. media drew attention to this remark while pointing out problems in President Trump's initial response to COVID-19.

Additionally, Dr. Fauci has denied some of President Trump's statements during White House briefings. After President Trump mentioned that the malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine was a promising treatment for COVID-19, when reporters asked questions, Dr. Fauci said, "I do not have clear information to make any comments."

Because of this, Dr. Fauci has been portrayed as opposing President Trump, even though he does not wish to be.

On the same day, President Trump rebutted media reports criticizing the initial response to COVID-19 as "fake news" through multiple tweets. Major U.S. media outlets have criticized President Trump's early handling of COVID-19, stating that despite warnings about the risk of a large-scale outbreak through intelligence reports, President Trump did not respond adequately.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.