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Win Or Lose, Trump Has Sights On Fauci

President Donald Trump arrives at his campaign rally at Opa-Locka Executive Airport, late Sunday. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
  • Election result may tip Trump’s treatment of  Fauci |

  • Fauci expects limited capacity for sporting events deep into 2021 |

  • Can President Trump fire Dr. Fauci?

2020 election results may influence Trump’s treatment of Dr. Fauci 

Nov. 4, 2020

By Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, infectious diseases physician and NBC News/MSNBC medical contributor

NBC News – On Sunday, goaded by his supporters and chants of “Fire Fauci,” President Donald Trump indicated that he would try to sack Dr. Anthony Fauci after the election.

The tension between the White House and many members of its coronavirus task force, particularly Fauci, has become obvious to most Americans over the course of the pandemic.

And yet, despite the president’s chastisements — not to mention death threats — Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, has managed to remain an effective voice for applying an evidence-based approach in the government’s pandemic response.

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No matter who wins the 2020 presidential election — and it remains far too close to call right now — Fauci will be remembered as one of the pandemic’s heroes. In a very polarized nation, he has managed to keep the respect of the majority of Americans on both sides of the aisle.

If Trump does succeed in silencing Fauci somehow, it would come at a particularly precarious time. With the onset of winter, America heads into what will likely be some of the worst months of the pandemic thus far. We urgently need clarity about how to navigate rising numbers of hospitalizations and deaths, with a potential vaccine a number of months from widespread public distribution.

Fauci has spent the past few months speaking up about the stark realities of the pandemic — honesty that is out of step with the White House’s messaging and which seems to have resulted in his being sidelined.

But Fauci’s true courage and wisdom are most evident in how he has managed to strike a difficult balance: avoiding overt political attacks while still speaking truth to power.

By walking this very tricky line, Fauci has probably avoided getting kicked off the coronavirus task force, ensuring that he could continue working from within the administration … Read more. 

Fauci expects limited capacity for sporting events deep into 2021

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 on 

Pro Football Talk – There’s nothing normal about 2020. But that may be what’s now normal, into 2021.

Via Sports Business Daily, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that limited capacities for American sporting events likely will continue deep into next year.

Dr. Fauci explained that, even if a “really good vaccine” is developed, “mask-wearing will continue well into the third or fourth quarter of 2021.” He also said that there will be a “graded, gradual progression towards normality.”

“Ultimately, when we get this under control — not only at the domestic but [at] the global level — we will start to approach what we call normal,” Dr. Fauci said. “I don’t think . . . that it’s going to be at a level where people are going to feel like there are no public-health measures to be implemented until we get to the end of 2021 — at least … ” Read more. 

Can President Trump fire Dr. Fauci? 

Nov 3, 2020

KSL News Radio, SALT LAKE CITY — At a campaign rally for President Donald Trump Sunday in South Florida, the crowd chanted: “Fire Fauci! Fire Fauci!”

“Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election,” Mr. Trump told his supporters. “I appreciate the advice. He’s a nice man, though. He’s been wrong on a lot.”

Fire Fauci? Hard to do

Because Anthony Fauci, 79, is a career civil servant, and not a political appointee, he is protected by law from political retaliation. But the president can remove him from the White House coronavirus task force.

Fauci has advised six presidents on HIV/AIDS and other domestic and global health issues.

Last month, Fauci was named Federal Employee of the Year during the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies), highlighting the work of employees making important contributions to the US government.

“Tony is without peer in the world of global health as an authoritative, experienced and candid figure,” said former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, who was the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush, who awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, Fauci is protected by federal civil-service regulations, which shield him from termination or demotion for political reasons.

Mr. Trump could pressure Fauci’s boss, Dr. Francis Collins, or Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to fire the doctor … Read more. 

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