Trump vs Fauci

Trump Lashes Out at Fauci

What Fauci is Likely to Experience

The Fauci Interview Transcript

Personally I think this may be one of Trump's biggest mistakes so far, though I am certain that Fox News and Trump True Believers will be okay with it.

But for the vast majority of Americans Dr Fauci has been the voice of logic, truth and reassurance during these uncertain times.  That and his working with 6 Presidents on many disasters.

So Trump could have:

1. accepted the very rationale statement below
2. agreed that the choice to not close things down earlier costs lives
3. explained that it was a complicated trade off

Instead he chooses to attack one of the most respected men in America for speaking his truth.

TAPPER: Do you think lives could have been saved if social distancing, physical distancing, stay-at-home measures had started third week of February, instead of mid-March? 

FAUCI: You know, Jake, again, it's the what would have, what could have.
It's -- it's very difficult to go back and say that. I mean, obviously, you could logically say, that if you had a process that was ongoing, and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. Obviously, no one is going to deny that. 

But what goes into those kinds of decisions is -- is complicated. But you're right. I mean, obviously, if we had, right from the very beginning, shut everything down, it may have been a little bit different. 

But there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then.

By the way, the press on the right is already working hard to discredit Dr Fauci by cherry picking quote from January.  Unfortunately for them...  Apparently the NIH keeps an excellent record of where Fauci spoke and what he said. Apparently he has worked with politicians before. :-)