WASHINGTON: Furious and wronged President Donald Trump rejected rumors that he was going to fire his top medical adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, but launched new fights with Democrats and the media before the high-risk reopening of the closed US economy.
Unusually, the evening briefing at the White House began with a statement by internationally renowned Dr. Anthony Fauci in an attempt to quell speculation that he had quarreled with the Republican President.
Referring to a CNN interview Sunday in which he said that previous mitigation measures would have cushioned the escalation of the Covid-19 crisis in the United States, Fauci explained that he had been responding to a "hypothetical".
Fauci explained his reference in the interview to the "rejection" against the closure of the economy, a comment widely interpreted as a sign that Trump was reluctant to take drastic measures, such as the "wrong choice of words."
Trump, who fueled speculation on Sunday by retweeting a critical comment with the hashtag #FireFauci, tried to draw a line under the latest White House turmoil.
"I like it," he said of Fauci. "I heard that I will fire him. I will not fire him, I think he is a wonderful guy." But Trump later launched into a sustained assault against other targets, demonstrating his frustration with accusations that he has mishandled the crisis.
With his re-election in November as a tight contest against Democrat Joe Biden, Trump is under great pressure both to crush the spread of the pandemic and to rescue the world's largest economy, which has been paralyzed by social distancing and other virus mitigation measures.
Unusually, the evening briefing at the White House began with a statement by internationally renowned Dr. Anthony Fauci in an attempt to quell speculation that he had quarreled with the Republican President.
Referring to a CNN interview Sunday in which he said that previous mitigation measures would have cushioned the escalation of the Covid-19 crisis in the United States, Fauci explained that he had been responding to a "hypothetical".
Fauci explained his reference in the interview to the "rejection" against the closure of the economy, a comment widely interpreted as a sign that Trump was reluctant to take drastic measures, such as the "wrong choice of words."
Trump, who fueled speculation on Sunday by retweeting a critical comment with the hashtag #FireFauci, tried to draw a line under the latest White House turmoil.
"I like it," he said of Fauci. "I heard that I will fire him. I will not fire him, I think he is a wonderful guy." But Trump later launched into a sustained assault against other targets, demonstrating his frustration with accusations that he has mishandled the crisis.
With his re-election in November as a tight contest against Democrat Joe Biden, Trump is under great pressure both to crush the spread of the pandemic and to rescue the world's largest economy, which has been paralyzed by social distancing and other virus mitigation measures.
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