NIAID Director Criticized by White House Officials

On July 12, 2020, a Trump administration official told reporters that the White House is "concerned about the number of times [the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] Dr. Fauci has been wrong about things" related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The official gave reporters a list of claims made by Dr. Fauci that ultimately proved to be incorrect. The list included Dr. Fauci's January 2020 statement that COVID-19 was "not a major threat" to the U.S. and his March 2020 guidance that "people should not be walking around with masks." However, those claims were consistent with the view of most public health officials at the time, based on the best available data. Many public health experts have defended Dr. Fauci, saying that he has appropriately revised his position over time as new data has become available, and criticized the Trump administration for trying to discredit him.

Update:

On July 13, 2020, NPR reported that President Trump had retweeted a conspiracy theory regarding COVID-19 in another apparent attempt to discredit Dr. Fauci. The tweet, which was originally posted by former game show host Chuck Woolery, claimed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Media, Democrats, [and] our Doctors” are spreading false information about COVID-19 in order to harm the president in November’s general election. President Trump also posted a tweet from Mark Young, an entrepreneur and podcast host, which asked: “So based on Dr. Fauci and the Democrats, I will need an ID card to go shopping but not to vote?” 

On July 14, 2020, USA Today published an opinion piece by White House trade advisor Peter Navarro titled "Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on." The piece lists a number of alleged "mistakes" made by Dr. Fauci and concludes by stating: "So when you ask me whether I listed to Dr. Fauci's advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution."