DeSantis hits Trump for saying he couldn’t fire Fauci
Mabinty Quarshie
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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) slammed former President Donald Trump for claiming he was not “allowed” to fire former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci, who helped lead the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
DeSantis’s comments come after Trump was asked on Hugh Hewitt‘s radio show Wednesday why he hadn’t fired Fauci, who angered Republicans over his approach to masking and other pandemic-era guidance.
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“First of all, you’re not allowed. He’s civil service, and you’re not allowed to fire him,” Trump told Hewitt. “But forget that, because I don’t necessarily go by everything. But Dr. Fauci would tell me things, and I wouldn’t do them in many cases. But also, he wasn’t a big player in my administration.”
The Florida governor dismissed Trump’s defense, claiming he was pivoting from his previous comments about his relationship with Fauci.
“It’s important to point out for a long time that was not his excuse,” DeSantis told the Rubin Report on Wednesday. “His excuse had been that if you fired Fauci, both the Democrats and the media would have pitched a fit, which, of course, is 100% true.”
“But that’s the price of leadership. You got to stand up and do what’s right,” the governor continued. “Clearly, he could have been fired from the White House Task Force. There was no obligation to run him out at press conference after press conference, have him doing media interviews.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRhMN6hZcXE&list=PLEbhOtC9klbCr0iN2ANJbaV477B0eSpc6&ab_channel=TheRubinReport
DeSantis reopened Florida’s businesses and eased restrictions before most states during the pandemic, defying recommendations from Fauci and other pandemic experts who advised for states to remain under lockdown. DeSantis has highlighted Florida’s handling of the pandemic while campaigning for the White House, something he alluded to during his interview with Dave Rubin.
“During the height of the COVID stuff in 2020, Fauci would do local hits in Florida media attacking me for having schools open and some of these other stuff,” he said. “So, there was no obligation to do that. I think you could have also fired him from NIH because he had basically committed misconduct with the gain of function.”
Trump was asked to respond to DeSantis’s previous attacks about the former president’s relationship with Fauci during his interview with Hewitt, to which he claimed the governor “loves” Fauci.
“He shut down Florida. It was tight as a drum. He had vax lines. He was vaxxing everything. Now, he talks about the vaccinations this and that,” Trump said. “And let me tell you the other thing. I will send you, after this conversation, five articles about how much he loves Dr. Fauci. ‘I do what Dr. Fauci says. This is Ron DeSantimonious. I do what Dr. Fauci says.’ That’s what he says. And I’ve got the articles here. But he doesn’t like to go back.”
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Trump went on to slam DeSantis for the number of deaths in Florida during the pandemic. “And by the way, just so you know, it sounds very negative, third-most in deaths from COVID: Unfortunately, Florida. Florida was third-worst in deaths,” he said. “That’s a horrible statistic. But that’s a statistic that sort of counts. Ron was the third-worst in terms of actual death from COVID. Ron is No. 3.”
The spat between DeSantis and Trump comes as COVID-19 cases are rising nationally, prompting some communities to reinstate mask mandates and other health precautions. DeSantis says he will not reinstate COVID-19 lockdowns, mask mandates, or any fines for not complying with coronavirus precautions.