Fauci Shreds Media Narrative, Admits President Trump's COVID Response Saved Lives
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, testified Friday before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, wrapping up a week of high-profile hearings on Capitol Hill.
The big news from Friday’s hearing was that Fauci said he was “cautiously optimistic” the United States could have a vaccine ready by the “end of this year and as we go into 2021.”
If you were going to take one thing away from Friday’s testimony, that probably should have been it. It’s tremendous news and, if his timeline is accurate, it’s a testimony to human ingenuity and resilience.
However, that doesn’t mean you should bury the other stuff — particularly the inconvenient fact that Fauci agrees the Trump administration’s COVID-19 policy decisions saved lives and that he was actively involved with many of the more controversial ones.
During questioning by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, Fauci praised the administration’s moves to largely ban travel from China and Europe — both of which were widely questioned by both Democrats and the media at the time.
And, as it turns out, he was involved in the decision-making behind both travel bans.
“Do you think that decision saved lives, Dr. Fauci?” Scalise asked about the China travel ban.
“Yes, I do,” Fauci responded.
The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said the same thing about the European travel ban.
As for the “15 Days to Slow the Spread” — the initial March guidelines from the White House Coronavirus Task Force — Fauci said he “was very much involved in that” and “I believe it did” save lives.
When it came to extending the guidelines another 30 days? “Yes, I was very much involved, and I agree with it,” Fauci said.
“So, I know we’ve heard a lot about disagreements,” Scalise said. “Clearly there are many decisions made. In fact, there are many very internationally respected doctors that are involved in each of those decisions. Is that correct?”
“Yes,” Fauci responded.
“Yes I do” — Dr. Anthony Fauci says President Trump’s response to the coronavirus saved lives pic.twitter.com/oYRASP4148
— Matt Wolking (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@MattWolking) July 31, 2020
“By and large, would you say that you and President Trump have been in agreement on most of those decisions?” Scalise asked.
“We were in agreement on virtually all of those,” Fauci said.
The Trump team made sure this clip got amplified:
The fake news media doesn’t want you to see this clip, so let’s drive them crazy and make it go viral!!! https://t.co/nKtoOQxxcY
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 31, 2020
Again, this wasn’t bound to make any headlines.
Vaccine news is more important. For diversions, we had the contentious lines of questioning from both Democrats and Republicans to keep us occupied — this being a House hearing and all, where donor clips and storylines are more important than actual news.
However, let’s not forget that the Trump administration’s reaction to the coronavirus saved lives.
Democrats would love to pretend they would have had done something different. In truth, many on the left were perfectly happy to heavily imply that the travel bans were xenophobic.
Biden’s plan to deal with the coronavirus has consistently been similar to President Donald Trump’s, although he swears things would have been different.
In April, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the China travel ban didn’t do much and could have been stricter — but, when asked if she supported the ban, said, “let’s go into the future.”
Yes, let’s. And, if the Democrats are constantly telling us that listening to Dr. Fauci saves lives, we know what leadership we ought to be going into the future with.
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