Donald Trump, behind in the polls and losing huge chunks of senior and women voters because of his horrendous coronavirus response, decided to make it all worse by attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci on a campaign call Monday that reporters were included in. Not only included in—told by Trump to amplify his attack on the world-renowned scientist and epidemiologist. "Fauci's a disaster," Trump grumbled, and all the public health officials are "idiots."
"People are tired of Covid. People are saying, 'Whatever, just leave us alone.' People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots," Trump said on the call, which means Trump is tired of coronavirus and the damage he's inflicted on himself by not taking it seriously. "He's been here for, like, 500 years. He's like this wonderful sage telling us how—Fauci, if we listened to him, we'd have 700,000 [or] 800,000 deaths." Sure. Then he got to his biggest criticism after Fauci's 60 Minutes interview Sunday, in which Fauci said he was "absolutely not" surprised Trump caught the virus at the Rose Garden superspreader party. Fauci's a "disaster," Trump told the call participants, and added that "every time he goes on television, there's always a bomb. But there's a bigger bomb if you fire him."
Just to make sure that message got out there, Trump said: "If there’s a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it. I couldn't care less." Which presumably means Fauci isn't going to be fired however much Trump hates him and science. But the call wasn't enough for Trump—he had to go on Twitter a few hours later to attack Fauci some more, this time over Fauci's contention on 60 Minutes that the White House had been muzzling him, frequently refusing to allow him to go on television. "Dr.Tony [sic] Fauci says we don't allow him to do television, and yet I saw him last night on @60Minutes, and he seems to get more airtime than anybody since the late, great, Bob Hope. All I ask of Tony is that he make better decisions. He said 'no masks & let China in.'" Bob Hope? What the hell does Bob Hope have to do with anything? Then he added second tweet and a swipe out of left field about Fauci's wild first pitch at a Nationals game back in July. Clearly, Trump is still stewing being overlooked for that honor.
He also seems to be stewing about Fauci's simple existence and maybe, possibly the truths Fauci tells the American people. On the 60 Minutes broadcast, Fauci said that Trump won't wear a mask because he "equates wearing a mask with weakness," and that it is "less an anti-science [position] than it’s more a statement." That statement is "You know, a statement of strength," Fauci said. "Like, 'We're strong. We don't need a mask.' That kind of thing." The kind of thing that puts you in the hospital being pumped with all kinds of experimental drugs. Fauci addressed that as well, saying Trump believed in science enough to go to Walter Reed. "Deep down," Fauci said, he "believes in science. […] If he didn't he would not have entrusted his health to the very competent physicians at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center." Sure, he believes in it to save his own rusty skin, the hell with the rest of the country.
As well as how unfair the universe has been to him, personally. So he's taking that anger out on the people who are telling him the truth about this virus every day. He's been on a tear against science since his rally Sunday, where he mocked former Vice President Joe Biden for, well, listening to scientists about this pandemic and how to respond to it.
