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Donald Trump, Anthony Fauci: "People are sick of hearing these idiots"
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Carolyn Kaster / dpa
US President Donald Trump has described leading US health expert and government advisor Anthony Fauci as a "disaster" according to media reports and accused him of errors in the pandemic.
Trump said that according to reports from the broadcaster CNN and the "New York Times" in a phone call with his election campaign team on Monday.
"Every time he appears on television, there is always a bomb, but there is a bigger bomb when you fire him. The guy is a disaster," said Trump, according to the New York Times.
"People are fed up with hearing Fauci and those idiots, all of these idiots who made mistakes."
President Fauci also mentioned a "nice" guy in the switch.
Fauci is considered a top immunologist and a much sought-after expert in the USA.
He became known to a wide audience during the pandemic.
His regular argument with Trump is a frequent topic in the news.
In surveys, a majority of Americans have been giving Trump bad marks for his crisis management in the pandemic for months.
In surveys, Fauci enjoys significantly more trust than the president.
According to CNN, Trump also said with regard to Fauci: "If I had listened to him, we would have 500,000 dead."
The number of deaths in the United States after being infected with the coronavirus is currently around 220,000.
More than eight million people in the United States have contracted the virus since the pandemic began.
Fauci said on CBS on Sunday that he was "absolutely not" surprised when Trump was infected with the corona virus.
Looking at an event with Trump in the rose garden of the White House at the end of last month, the immunologist spoke of a "superspreader event".
When he saw on television that hardly any protective measures were observed there, he thought: "Nothing good can come of it."
Fauci criticized again that Trump's campaign team had used a statement from him without permission and in a misleading manner in an election commercial.
Fauci had also told CBS that the White House had been monitoring his appearances on broadcasters.
"I was definitely not allowed to go to many, many, many shows that asked me."
White House communications director Alyssa Farah told Fox News on Monday that Fauci had appeared on numerous programs.
"It's difficult to turn on the television and not see it."
You certainly don't try to prevent him from sharing important information with the public.
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wal / dpa