WASHINGTON - APRIL 28: Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases testifies before the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the public health response to Swine Flu April 28, 2009 in Washington, DC. Health officials testified that there is no concern for panic related to the Swine Flu. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview released Thursday that President Donald Trump took the coronavirus threat seriously “from the beginning” of the pandemic.
“I think he always understood the seriousness of it. Right now as the numbers are becoming crystal clear, he himself is articulating an awareness of that seriousness,” Fauci said in an interview on “The Daily,” a New York Times podcast.
“But from the beginning, he always took it seriously.”
“The President has his own style, that’s obvious to the American public. When I speak to him about issues that are substantive he listens.”
Trump’s critics have accused him of downplaying the threat from coronavirus, which began as an outbreak in Wuhan, China in November 2019 and has since spread across the globe.
Trump claimed in the early days of the U.S. outbreak that health officials had the virus under control and would likely be able to contained the pandemic.
“And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done,” he said at a Feb. 26 press conference when the U.S. had recorded only 15 cases of coronavirus.
As of Thursday, the United States has reported more than 216,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. More than 5,100 Americans have died.
Trump in recent days has struck a more alarming tone about the coronavirus threat.
“This is going to be a very painful — a very, very painful two weeks,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Fauci credited Trump in the podcast interview for shutting down travel from China in January.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org
Tariff refunds provided a temporary boost to the U.S. economy and could account for a…
A new Washington Monthly analysis spotlights several of what it deems the “best colleges for…
The 20 biggest donors in the 2026 midterm elections poured $1.2 billion into House and…
The United States Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a major legal victory Monday after…
“I’m Katie Hobbs, and the rules don’t apply to me.” That might as well run…
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have attracted growing support from young people who are…