On Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported that President Donald Trump is now convinced that Dr. Anthony Fauci is trying to play to the media to get positive attention, or maybe even a job.
"In recent months, Trump has routinely gossiped with close associates and advisers that Fauci is behaving like a member of anti-MAGA 'resistance' commentators," reported Erin Blanco. "In the past few weeks, the president has told multiple people that he believes Fauci is angling to earn the media’s adulation and that it at times appears to him that the famous infectious disease expert is 'audition[ing]' or 'trying to get a job at CNN,' according to two sources with knowledge of his private comments."
"The result has been increasingly open bitterness from the president towards Fauci even as the pandemic has worsened across the country," said the report. "President Trump has not indicated that he plans to fire Fauci, multiple individuals who’ve spoken to Trump about the doctor said, in large part because of the political and media backlash that would invariably ensue. And Fauci recently told The Daily Beast that he has no plans to quit, no matter how uncomfortable or disorderly the COVID task force gets."
Fauci, as one of the most prominent members of the coronavirus task force, has gained widespread national trust for his public health recommendations — many of which Trump has blown off. Although Fauci has generally tried to stay diplomatic and apolitical in his analyses, he recently suggested he was not surprised the president was infected, which inflamed the president's anger.