Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in Donald Trump’s government, revealed in an online forum sponsored by Harvard University on Wednesday that his family has been getting death threats, Raw Story reported. Fauci has clashed with the real estate mogul on multiple occasions throughout the coronavirus pandemic, notably on the suitability of hydroxychloroquine as treatment of the disease.
“And getting death threats for me and my family, harassing my daughters to the point where I have to get security is just — I mean, it’s amazing,” Fauci explained.
“I wouldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams that people who object to things that are pure public health principles are so set against it and don’t like what you and I say, namely in the word of science, that they actually threaten you.”
“I wish that they did not have to go through that,” the medical expert added.
According to Fauci, the pandemic is a crisis that “brings out the best of people and the worst of people.”
As reported by BBC News , the White House took aim at Fauci’s reputation last month by highlighting the health expert’s shifting advice on the severity of COVID-19 and the use of masks as a preventive measure. According to the publication, the current administration attempted to suggest the doctor was incorrect about the threat of the virus in the early stages of its spread and was therefore untrustworthy.
Per NPR , Fauci has held his position as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He has advised six presidents — including former President Barack Obama — on public health issues. Notably, the doctor was involved in the Obama administration’s response to the Ebola outbreak. As The Inquisitr reported, Trump controversially dismantled the pandemic response infrastructure created by Obama using his experience with the deadly disease, which led to two deaths in the United States.
Trump and Fauci have continued to disagree on the effectiveness of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19. While the U.S. leader has regularly touted it as a promising treatment for the virus, the doctor has remained skeptical. According to Fauci , all of the most comprehensive trials thus far suggest it is not an effective means of combating the virus.
Conversely, the president controversially promoted a video that touted the medication as a cure and accused the NIH director of attempting to hide the drug from the public.
Fauci’s approval rating from Americans has remained higher than the president’s throughout the coronavirus crisis, much to the latter’s dismay, as reports have noted.
