WH Adviser Goes Rogue, Rips Dr. Fauci in Scathing Op-Ed
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro tore into Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in a scathing Op-Ed published Tuesday.
Navarro, who is known for being outspoken, attacked Fauci for his perceived failings with regard to the coronavirus response, writing that the doctor has been “wrong about everything.”
In an Op-Ed for USA Today, Navarro praised Fauci for his “good bedside manner with the public” — but the praise ended there.
“In late January, when I was making the case on behalf of the president to take down the flights from China, Fauci fought against the president’s courageous decision — which might well have saved hundreds of thousands of American lives,” he wrote.
He continued, writing that he sounded the alarm about a coming pandemic as Fauci was on television telling the media “not to worry.”
“When I was working feverishly on behalf of the president in February to help engineer the fastest industrial mobilization of the health care sector in our history, Fauci was still telling the public the China virus was low risk,” Navarro wrote.
“When we were building new mask capacity in record time, Fauci was flip-flopping on the use of masks,” he added.
Navarro also attacked Fauci for brushing off the potential efficacy of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, a treatment that became a lightning rod of controversy after President Donald Trump announced he believed the drug showed promise with regard to treating the coronavirus.
“And when Fauci was telling the White House Coronavirus Task Force that there was only anecdotal evidence in support of hydroxychloroquine to fight the virus, I confronted him with scientific studies providing evidence of safety and efficacy,” Navarro wrote.
“A recent Detroit hospital study showed a 50% reduction in the mortality rate when the medicine is used in early treatment,” he added.
A White House spokeswoman asserted Wednesday that Navarro’s Op-Ed was not approved by the Trump administration before it was published.
Navarro saved his most biting criticism of Fauci, who has run the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, for last.
On comments made by Fauci last week dismissing a reported low death rate from the coronavirus in recent weeks as a “false narrative,” Navarro unloaded.
“Now Fauci says a falling mortality rate doesn’t matter when it is the single most important statistic to help guide the pace of our economic reopening. The lower the mortality rate, the faster and more we can open,” Navarro wrote.
“So when you ask me whether I listen to Dr. Fauci’s advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution,” he concluded.
On July 7, Fauci stated it is “a false narrative to take comfort in a lower rate of death.”
“There’s so many other things that are very dangerous and bad about this virus. Don’t get yourself into false complacency,” he said, according to Fox News.
The White House spokeswoman, Alyssa Farah, said Navarro went rogue with his Op-Ed.
“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,” Farah, the White House director of strategic communications, tweeted.
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
When asked about Navarro’s criticisms, Fauci told The Atlantic in an interview published Wednesday:
“I can’t explain Peter Navarro. He’s in a world by himself. So I don’t even want to go there,” Fauci said.
Navarro joins Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as a high-profile critic of Fauci in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Patrick told Fox News that Fauci “has been wrong every time on every issue.”
“I don’t need his advice anymore. We’ll listen to a lot of science, we’ll listen to a lot of doctors, and Governor Greg Abbott and myself and other state leaders will make the decision, no thank you Dr. Fauci,” Patrick said.
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