WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci said he would resign as chief medical adviser to the president if Donald Trump is reelected to the White House in 2024. He added that the Trump administration's response to the pandemic was less than ideal.
The nation's top infectious disease expert offered up his candid thoughts about the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in an interview with CNN's Jim Acosta.
"No," Fauci told Acosta when asked if he would work under Trump again.
"If you look at the history of what the response was during the administration, I think, you know, at best, you can say it wasn’t optimal," he added. "History will speak for itself about that."
Although Trump has not publicly announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, he has strongly hinted at another presidential bid.
Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, repeatedly went at odds against Trump's pandemic recommendations and policies, such as pushing against Trump's promotion of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID infections.
Trump and his conservative base later doubled down on attacks against Fauci as he pushed for authorities to enact more social distancing and masking guidelines in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.
Fauci stayed on as chief medical adviser when Joe Biden took office, and he has publicly expressed relief to be working under a new administration, saying in January 2021 that it was "liberating" to be working for a new president.
“I can tell you I take no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the president, so it was really something that you didn’t feel you could actually say something and there wouldn’t be any repercussions about it,” Fauci said at a White House press briefing.
“The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence and science is, and know that’s it — let the science speak — it is somewhat of a liberating feeling,” he added.