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Fauci said the decision to “put everything together and develop a vaccine” was “the best decision I have ever made regarding an intervention as director of the institute”, referring to his role at the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases. . The agency’s vaccine research center helped develop a key element of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s ultimately successful shots.
But Fauci’s characterization drew Trump’s ire. In his statement on Monday, the ex-president called vaccines authorized for emergency use “American vaccines,” even though the first vaccine authorized in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration was developed by immigrants. Turks who founded BioNTech in Germany. , and then worked with Pfizer to bring it to market. Pfizer, which makes the vaccine, has not received development money from the government.
“Dr. Fauci was unable to pressure the FDA to pass it any faster. I did it, and even the fake media know and report it, ”Trump said, though Fauci, as director of NIAID, did not have the power to put pressure on the FDA. to make such decisions.
Fauci also told CNN that Trump’s use of social media went against what the administration’s response should have been. Birx also criticized the federal government’s inconsistent messages as “the number one fault.”
“What hit me like a punch in the chest was all of a sudden he got up and said, ‘Free Virginia, free Michigan,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on here? ‘ Fauci told CNN, referring to a series of Trump tweets. “It shocked me because it was such a jolt from what we were trying to do.”
In his statement, Trump called Fauci “the king of ‘flip flops’ and moving the goalposts to look as good as he can,” while adding that he ignored Fauci and Birx’s recommendations. Because the coronavirus was unknown to the world before the end of 2019, scientists and health officials battling the pandemic have frequently revised their advice as they learned more about the virus and the disease it causes. And an official who worked at Trump’s White House said the criticisms of the former president were irrelevant.
“A little revisionist history of the former president. We’ve all had our issues with Fauci and his media marathons, but very few people – including President Trump – had anything negative to say about Dr. Birx, ”the former White House official said.
Birx told CNN that the Trump administration could have done more to prevent hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 deaths in the United States. So far, nearly 550,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus.
“I look at it this way – the first time around, we have an excuse. There were around 100,000 deaths as a result of this initial wave, ”she said. “All the others, in my opinion, could have been mitigated or significantly reduced.”
Trump criticized Birx for not taking her own advice, citing a family trip she took the day after Thanksgiving, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans not to travel during the holidays. Birx later announced that she would be stepping down from her post.
In the past, Birx has said she “always” considered quitting the Trump administration because of the hyperpartisan nature of the workplace.
“Dr. Birx was a terrible medical advisor, which is why I rarely took her advice, ”Trump said in his statement.
In the interview broadcast on Sunday, Birx also spoke of a phone call she received from Trump after speaking publicly on CNN in August about the spread of Covid-19.
“Everyone in the White House was overwhelmed by this interview and the clarity I brought to the epidemic,” she said. “I was called by the president. It was very uncomfortable, very direct and very difficult to hear.
Trump denied that there had been a “very difficult” phone call and criticized Birx for his policies, which he said “led us directly into a depression caused by COVID.”
“Time proved me right,” he said. “I only kept Dr Fauci and Dr Birx because they worked for the US government for so long – they’re like a bad habit!”
Gabby Orr contributed to this report.
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