Update: The latest news is that the White House now says Fauci will be allowed to testify before a Senate Congressional committee.
By now we know that Trump is pushing a paranoid and unfounded conspiracy theory that Covid-19 was created in a Wuhan lab and accidentally released. We can put the following quote down for inclusion on the list of “Trump’s greatest idiotic statements:” This came in answer to a reporters question "Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of this virus?" When asked for clarification he said "I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that."
Not only did the intelligence community dismiss this as unfounded, but Anthony Fauci tried to explain that experts in virology can tell whether a virus was natural or created. They said Covid-19 was a natural coronavirus that probably originated in bats.
Dr. Anthony Fauci Dismisses Claims Virus Was Made In Or Escaped From Chinese Lab — HuffPost today
Trump has also refused to let Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx testify in front of Congress, even a Republican run Senate committee.
Many in the media speculated about what will end up happening to Dr. Fauci. There was a flurry of articles in April about Trump considering firing him. The most recent article (posted on CNN two hours ago) is Fauci says calls for his dismissal are 'part of the game'. Ironically the article quotes remarks Fauci made to Gov. Cuomo’s brother Chris.
Fauci has garnered sustained criticism from the President's allies in conservative media for his willingness to directly refute Trump and counter his more optimistic rhetoric about the pandemic. Among them was the conservative who
called for Fauci to be fired after he said in a CNN interview more could have been done to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Trump retweeted it but later pushed back on the idea that he might fire Fauci.
"Today I walk in, I hear I'm going to fire him. I'm not firing him. I think he is a wonderful guy," the President told reporters during the daily White House briefing.
Trump said his retweet doesn't matter, and the tweet was "somebody's opinion." The President said he did notice the "fire Fauci" hashtag before he retweeted it.
"This was a person's view. Not everybody's happy with Anthony. Not everybody is happy with everybody," he said. "But I will tell you, we have done a job the likes of which nobody has ever done."
Fauci is without a doubt a huge thorn in Trump’s side. Polls show both Fauci and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to be more credible than he is.
Trump knows that if he fires him he can't control him. Fauci can increase his presence on television interview shows and Cuomo can even add him to his task force.
If he sidelines him during briefings and even doesn’t left him share the podium he is left with Dr. Birx as the second more credible and she has already tarnished her image with her sycophantic excuses for Trump’s lunacy.
If he fires Fauci Trump he also risks Birx’s resignation.
What do you think he will do?
Update: Fauci can only be removed for cause from his position as as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases where he has served since 1984 for cause. See article in Mother Jones. On the poll amend “Trump will fire him” to Trump will totally remove him from the virus task force.
UPDATE
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 · 11:08:21 PM +00:00 · HalBrown
I didn’t think of this:
Why fire Fauci and, Birx for that matter, from the task force? Just eliminate the task force.
The official said the task force "will be phased down around Memorial Day. We will continue to have key medical experts advising (President Donald Trump) daily and accessible to press throughout the coming months ahead."
The move would quash the most visible nerve center for the federal government's response to the virus. But a senior administration official told CNN to expect members of the task force to still be involved in conversations with governors and industry leaders because the White House is aware that leaders still want to hear from doctors as they reopen their states and businesses.