Screenshot / Twitter
Donald Trump continues to sabotage America’s coronavirus response through the spread of lies and misinformation.
Late Monday night, he tweeted that Dr. Anthony Fauci has “misled the American public,” along with a video questioning the effectiveness of masks:
Dr. Lee Vliet: Dr. Fauci has misled the American public on many issues, but in particular, on dismissing #hydroxychloroquine and calling Remdesivir the new gold standard#WarRoomPandemic
Listen & watch ⬇️ https://t.co/AUokEMf8kb
— War Room: Pandemic ☣️ (@WarRoomPandemic) July 22, 2020
The video hosted by the notoriously questionable Breitbart asks whether we should be wearing masks. Speaking to Fox Business Network earlier in July, the president embraced wearing masks, a welcome change from his opposition to face coverings.
But Trump retweeting this video suggests his opinion on wearing a mask has changed once again.
Cloth face-covering recommendations are “based on what we know about the role respiratory droplets play in the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19,” according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website. New studies continue to show that wearing a mask over your nose and face diminishes the spray of these droplets.
Trump has also spread misinformation about the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine for Coronavirus treatment, despite the Food and Drug Administration announcing after clinical trials that the medicine “showed no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery.”
Dr. Fauci on ABC on Trump's pro-hydroxychloroquine tweets: "The overwhelming, prevailing clinical trials that have looked at the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine have indicated that it is not effective in coronavirus disease."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 28, 2020
In the tweet, leading immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci’s credibility is called into question. Trump’s retweet follows months of smearing Dr. Fauci, from literally silencing him to blatantly discrediting his work.
Trump’s comments versus Trump’s Twitter feed show a seemingly complicated relationship between the president and Dr. Fauci.
“I’m going to certainly continue to do my job,” said Dr. Fauci in an interview on Good Morning America after asked if he could do his job with the president publicly discrediting him. “This is what I do; this is what I’ve been training my whole professional life for.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci to @GStephanopoulos: “I don't tweet. I don't even read them so I don't really want to go there. I just will continue to do my job no matter what comes out because I think it's very important.” https://t.co/JgCvhTifYS pic.twitter.com/BJGIqwSjuT
— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 28, 2020
Trump’s misinformed Coronavirus response makes November voting a matter of science, not just politics.
If you find Trump attacks on Fauci surprising, don’t. Trump & allies have long attacked those who contradict him or share inconvenient truths, from Gold Star parents to GOP lawmakers to a child fighting climate change & now a pandemic expert in a pandemic. A feature, not a bug.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 28, 2020
