After Dr. Anthony Fauci gave an interview in which he claimed the White House was controlling his media appearances, the president lashed out at him, even taking to comparing how each of them throws a baseball.
“Dr.Tony Fauci says we don’t allow him to do television, and yet I saw him last night on @60Minutes,” Trump tweeted on Monday, referencing the interview where Fauci made his claims about being limited in who he can talk to.
“He seems to get more airtime than anybody since the late, great, Bob Hope,” the president added, referencing the late comedian known for his near-constant rotation on television while he was alive.
Trump said he wants Fauci to “make better decisions” and claimed the original strategy to defeat the pandemic suggested by Fauci was “no masks & let China in.”
On a less serious note, the president slammed Fauci for having a “bad arm” and compared first pitches thrown out by him and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He claims Fauci threw out “perhaps the worst first pitch in the history of baseball.”
…P.S. Tony should stop wearing the Washington Nationals’ Mask for two reasons. Number one, it is not up to the high standards that he should be exposing. Number two, it keeps reminding me that Tony threw out perhaps the worst first pitch in the history of Baseball!
He then shared a video of him throwing out a first pitch in 2004 and called it “a perfect strike for the American people!”
A perfect strike for the American people! https://t.co/LqqvhWpqis
In a separate video retweeted by the president, Fauci can be seen throwing out a first pitch for the Washington Nationals in July where he doesn’t throw nearly as straight as Trump, with the catcher needing to chase the ball and Fauci shrugging at his efforts.
Fauci’s pitch is metaphor for how wrong he has been. & the bigger metaphor is how loudly the sycophant left cheered this terrible pitch. Smh pic.twitter.com/xqR9xvxU7v
Trump’s tweets are just a small part of his Monday criticisms against Fauci. He also blasted the doctor in a campaign call reporters were invited to listen to, and then again while speaking to reporters in Phoenix, Arizona.
TRUMP ON DR. FAUCI: “He loves being on television–He’s a nice guy. I like him. But he’s called a lot of bad calls… I don’t hold that against him.””I don’t wanna hurt him. He’s been there for about 350 years. I don’t wanna hurt him.” pic.twitter.com/5g89LvxwUa
In the campaign call, Trump reportedly called Fauci a “disaster” and said people are tired of coronavirus and hearing from “Fauci and all these idiots.”
While Fauci has been frequently criticized by conservatives for his support of lockdowns to battle Covid-19, his popularity with Democrats has been growing. Presidential candidate Joe Biden has said he would give Fauci the opportunity to continue working with the White House on the pandemic if he won the election.
Thus, Democrats have not taken Trump’s latest criticisms of the doctor all that well with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and others targeting the president on social media.
“After deceptively using Dr. Fauci’s words in a TV ad last week, now Trump is attacking him as a ‘disaster.’ For what? For telling the truth. We all know who the disaster is here, Mr. President. You,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) tweeted.
“People are tired of listening to Fauci and these idiots,” Trump said. When Trump rejects science, downplays the pandemic & relies on right-wing conspiracy theories, we shouldn’t be shocked the virus is surging & we have the highest COVID death rate per capita of major countries.
I am sick and tired of trump’s ridiculous attacks on Dr. Fauci. Who else thinks Dr. Fauci should resign and spill ALL the damn tea on trump?
Biden also released a statement condemning Trump’s Fauci comments and claiming he is waving the “white flag” on the pandemic.
Biden responds in a written statement to Trump’s recent criticism of Dr. Fauci: “Waving a white flag and saying ‘it is what it is’ is unacceptable when thousands of American lives are being taken each week, when businesses are closing and schools remain shuttered.” pic.twitter.com/AVV2uBxvVW
Many conservatives, however, have celebrated Trump so openly targeting and trolling Fauci.
It’s about damn time. https://t.co/Xfg178m2mG
Say whatever you want about Donald Trump, but these tweets are absolutely hysterical. Trump is ROASTING Fauci’s horrible first pitch. pic.twitter.com/DE8Hew1HNQ
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