Anthony Fauci calls on White House to end political games over COVID-19 crisis

Anthony Fauci calls on White House to stop playing games after op-ed by Donald Trump’s trade adviser blasts the disease expert.

The top US infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci, left, has called on the White House to stop playing political games over the pandemic. Picture: AFP

The top US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci has called on the White House to stop playing political games and focus on tracking the coronavirus pandemic as infection rates continue to soar across the nation.

Dr Fauci’s comments come amid growing tension with the Trump administration which believes the head scientist’s warnings about the health risks of the virus are undermining hopes of an economic recovery before the November election.

They also come after Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro on Thursday (AEST) wrote an apparently unauthorised op-ed in USA Today headlined ‘Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on’.

White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro. Picture: AFP

“When you ask me whether I listen to Dr Fauci’s advice, my answer is: only with scepticism and caution,” Mr Navarro wrote after listing a series of instances when he believed Dr Fauci had been wrong about the virus.

The move came only days after the White House quietly briefed reporters about mistakes made by Dr Fauci during the pandemic.

Despite this, Mr Trump distanced himself from Mr Navarro’s criticism of Dr Fauci, saying ‘he shouldn’t be doing that’ and maintaining that he had ‘a very good relationship with Anthony.’

“The Peter Navarro op-ed didn’t go through normal White House clearance processes and is the opinion of Peter alone,” Alyssa Farah, the White House director for strategic communications later tweeted. “@realdonaldtrump values the expertise of the medical professionals advising his Administration.”

The Peter Navarro op-ed didn’t go through normal White House clearance processes and is the opinion of Peter alone. @realDonaldTrump values the expertise of the medical professionals advising his Administration.

— Alyssa Farah (@Alyssafarah) July 15, 2020

Dr Fauci responded by calling for an end to political games.

“We’ve got to almost reset this and say OK, let’s stop this nonsense and figure out how can we get our control over this now, and looking forward, how can we make sure that next month, we don’t have another example of California, Texas, Florida and Arizona, because those are the hot zones now,’ he said.

“So rather than these games people are playing, let’s focus on that.”

Dr Fauci said he did not know why the White House would want to undermine him, describing the attacks as ‘bizarre’.

“I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that,” Dr Fauci said. “I think they realise now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because it’s only reflecting negatively on them.

“It distracts from what I hope would be the common effort of getting this thing under control, rather than this back-and-forth distraction, which just doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

Dr Fauci has made a series of pointed warnings this week that the virus, which is spiking sharply in the Sunbelt states like Florida, Texas and Arizona, is not under control.

He said the country had not “even begun” to see the end of the coronavirus.

Despite the White House’s frustration with Dr Fauci, it is wary of trying to remove him because he is popular with voters, most of whom see him as a voice of truth on the pandemic amid a sea of political spin from the administration.

An Economist poll released this week shows 55 per cent of voters surveyed had a favourable view of Dr Fauci compared to 25 per cent who had an unfavourable view.

Meanwhile Florida, Texas and Arizona recorded about 25,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday (AEST) as states with rising infections moved to impose new restrictions.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt tested positive to COVID-19. Picture: Getty Images

Alabama will require people to wear face masks just days after Texas Governor Greg Abbott called on Texans to wear masks and California ordered the closure of bars, indoor restaurants, movie theatres and many businesses. Retail giant Walmart also ordered on Thursday (AEST) that all customers wear masks.

The Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, became the first state Governor to contract the virus after he tested positive. Mr Stitt attended Mr Trump’s recent rally in Tulsa which is linked to an outbreak of the virus but says he doesn’t believe he contracted it at the rally.

Mr Trump has not held another rally since Tulsa with his campaign advisers uncertain about whether he can attract big crowds at a time when the pandemic continues to spread across the country.

The president says he wants to hold the Republican Convention with large crowds in Jacksonville, Florida next month, despite growing concerns about the health risks given the current sharp spike in cases in Florida.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia