Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Leaked White House Memo Shows Efforts To Discredit Fauci
ABC News: White House Seeks To Discredit Fauci In Memo Leaked To Reporters
The White House has taken the unusual step of attacking a member of its coronavirus task force, by providing a document to several media outlets that contains a list of comments made by Dr. Anthony Fauci in an effort to damage his reputation. The comments were first reported by the Washington Post. The news of the document comes as two senior level White House sources tell ABC News that Fauci has at times been referred to among aides to President Donald Trump as "Dr. Gloom and Doom." (Faulders and Santucci, 7/13)
CNN: As Fauci Disagrees With Trump On Virus, White House Takes Aim
As coronavirus cases surge in the United States, the White House is taking aim at the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. In a statement Saturday, a White House official told CNN that "several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things." The official went on to provide a lengthy list of examples, citing Fauci's comments early in the pandemic and linking to past interviews. (Holmes, 7/13)
The Hill: US Testing Official: 'Dr. Fauci Is Not 100 Percent Right'
The U.S.'s top coronavirus testing official, Adm. Brett Giroir, said Sunday that infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci is “not 100 percent right” because he looks at the coronavirus pandemic from “a very narrow public health point of view.” Chuck Todd of NBC's “Meet the Press” asked the White House testing czar about a Washington Post report that cited an official saying Fauci has argued for parts of the country with surges to shut down without buy-in from the rest of the White House task force. (Coleman, 7/12)
The Washington Post: Fauci Sidelined By Trump As He Talks Bluntly About Pandemic
In recent days, the 79-year-old scientist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has found himself directly in the president’s crosshairs. During a Fox News interview Thursday with Sean Hannity, Trump said Fauci “is a nice man, but he’s made a lot of mistakes.” And when Greta Van Susteren asked him last week about Fauci’s assessment that the country was not in a good place, Trump said flatly: “I disagree with him.” (Abutaleb, Dawsey and McGinley, 7/11)
