Trump targets Fauci, Birx in lengthy diatribe
By Brett Samuels - 03/29/21 06:50 PM EDT Former President Trump on Monday went on a tirade against Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, two of his former top medical advisers on the COVID-19 pandemic, excoriating their decisionmaking during his administration on the day after CNN aired previews of comments by the top government health experts.
Trump issued a lengthy statement in which he argued that he ignored both Fauci and Birx while in office as a benefit to the country and boasted that he was responsible for getting vaccines rapidly developed and approved.
"Based on their interviews, I felt it was time to speak up about Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx, two self-promoters trying to reinvent history to cover for their bad instincts and faulty recommendations, which I fortunately almost always overturned," Trump said in a statement Monday. "They had bad policy decisions that would have left our country open to China and others, closed to reopening our economy, and years away from an approved vaccine—putting millions of lives at risk."
Trump also mocked Fauci for his wayward first pitch at the Washington Nationals game last year and labeled him the "king of 'flip-flops,'" citing his changing guidance as experts learned more about the pandemic.
Trump saved his sharpest criticisms for Birx, who has in recent weeks given interviews in which she has expressed regret for how she handled her role as head of the White House coronavirus task force.
"Dr. Birx is a proven liar with very little credibility left," Trump said, claiming that Fauci would talk badly about her behind her back.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/545472-trump-targets-fauci-birx-in-lengthy-diatribe