President Donald Trump continues to prove his propensity for melting down over even the slightest bit of criticism. Now, he has yet again turned his ire towards Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, who Trump has repeatedly (and ridiculously) derided as supposedly out of step with the realities of the Coronavirus. In a recent 60 Minutes interview, Fauci admitted that yes, he has “certainly… not been allowed to go on many, many, many shows that have asked for” him. Trump responded with a raging Twitter meltdown in which he frantically insisted that Fauci actually gets plenty of airtime.
Fauci was blunter in this new @60Minutes sit-down:@DrLaPook: "Has the White House been controlling when you can speak with the media?"
Fauci: "I think you'd have to be honest and say yes. I certainly have not been allowed to go on many, many many shows that have asked for me."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 19, 2020
Basically, as Election Day approaches, the president has reduced himself to performing attempted damage control for the damage that he and his own team have caused. Rather than sticking by Fauci and working to maintain a unified front against the Coronavirus pandemic in the wake of concern about restrictions on his television and media availability, Trump is ranting on Twitter.
He posted:
‘Dr.Tony Fauci says we don’t allow him to do television, and yet I saw him last night on @60Minutes , and he seems to get more airtime than anybody since the late, great, Bob Hope. All I ask of Tony is that he make better decisions. He said “no masks & let China in”. Also, Bad arm!’
…P.S. Tony should stop wearing the Washington Nationals’ Mask for two reasons. Number one, it is not up to the high standards that he should be exposing. Number two, it keeps reminding me that Tony threw out perhaps the worst first pitch in the history of Baseball!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2020
This rant — which didn’t even end there! — is stunningly petty. In the wake of questions about the administration’s response to the Coronavirus, Trump is resorting to this inane Twitter drivel rather than substantively engaging with the issues at hand. Suggesting that Fauci has been on television at a rate on the level of the late comedian Bob Hope is just nonsensical hyperbole. Trump’s reference to Fauci’s “bad arm” refers to the public health official’s somewhat recent first pitch for the Washington Nationals baseball team. On Monday, Trump called Fauci’s pitch “perhaps the worst first pitch in the history of Baseball!” which is nauseatingly petty.
"If there's a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it, I couldn't care less," Trump says.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 19, 2020
Trump’s angry anti-Fauci Twitter rant came shortly after Trump ranted against Fauci during a campaign call. In that early Monday call, Trump called Fauci a “disaster” and grouped him with the so-called “idiots” who have been harping on about the Coronavirus pandemic. The president consistently seems to prioritize these petty public image disputes while down in the real world, Americans struggle. On Twitter this Monday, in a similar vein, he also complained about New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo.
….Washington wants nothing to do with him, and that’s so bad for New York, which has become a ghost town. Andrew spends too much time listening to his brother, Fredo. Forget the books and your apology tour. The Federal Government would love to help New York regain its luster!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response below:
