White House: 'President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci'

The White House on Monday dismissed speculation that President Trump will fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top medical scientist on the White House coronavirus task force.

The announcement follows weeks of such media speculation and one day after Trump retweeted a post that included the hashtag #FireFauci.

“This media chatter is ridiculous,” White House principal deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement. “President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci." 

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Sunday made clear that the reason the U.S. has such a high number of coronavirus infections is more complex than whether Trump, who closed travel to China, and others didn’t act fast enough. 

“The president’s tweet clearly exposed media attempts to maliciously push a falsehood about his China decision in an attempt to rewrite history,” Gidley also said. “It was Democrats and the media who ignored coronavirus, choosing to focus on impeachment instead, and when they finally did comment on the virus it was to attack President Trump for taking the bold decisive action to save American lives by cutting off travel from China and from Europe. Dr. Fauci has been and remains a trusted advisor to President Trump.”