Fauci refuses to discuss Trump's coronavirus misinformation: 'That's in the past'

America's top infectious disease expert refused to discuss the damage caused Donald Trump's misinformation about coronavirus during a Saturday appearance on CNN.

Dr. Anthony Fauci was interviewed by CNN's Jim Acosta as a graphic on the screen announced that 572,174 Americans had died of COVID-19.

"I want to take you back to a year ago when President Trump at the time suggested one possible treatment for the coronavirus, that people could inject themselves with disinfectants and ultraviolet light and so on. You remember this well. Let's have our viewers take a look back at that moment," Acosta said, playing the infamous clip from a Trump Coronavirus Task Force briefing.

How damaging was misinformation to -- and just bad information -- talk of injecting yourself with disinfectants, hydroxychloroquine. How damaging were all of those episodes of misinformation to the U.S. response to this pandemic?" Acosta asked. "And how does that contrast with where we are now?"

"Jim, I don't want to go back in time and start talking about things that have passed. We've had discussions about that multiple times. Wherever I go back or anybody asks me that question it just re-triggers a whole bunch of distracting stuff. That's in the past," Fauci said. "I am happy to talk to you about what we are doing right now."

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