President Biden on Friday made clear he has confidence in his medical adviser Anthony Fauci as conservatives ramp up their attacks on the government’s top infectious diseases expert over his comments on the origins of COVID-19.
“Yes, I’m very confident in Dr. Fauci,” Biden told reporters in Delaware after giving remarks on the economy. Biden had left the room, but popped back in to respond to a question about the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Fauci has been a target for some Republicans dating back to last year, when he evolved his guidance on masking and distancing as more information about the pandemic emerged. Former President Trump turned Fauci into a consistent foil at campaign rallies as he and other Republicans held the doctor up as an example of an overcautious approach to the pandemic that had shut down the economy. Fauci required a security detail as he and his family faced threats.
Fauci has reemerged as a punching bag for conservatives over his explanations for the origins of the coronavirus. Trump and other conservatives have argued the virus came from a lab in Wuhan, China, and suggested Fauci was not forthcoming about the evidence for that theory.
Republican critics of Fauci have pointed to newly released emails from 2020, published by The Washington Post, that show correspondence early in the pandemic about the possibility the virus came from a lab. While Fauci cast doubt on that prospect publicly, the emails do not clearly show him outright rejecting it.
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Biden "very confident" in Fauci amid conservative attacks https://t.co/QQMYz5gebP pic.twitter.com/97HLoofEZk
— The Hill (@thehill) June 4, 2021
Attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci took on a whole new level of vitriol this week https://t.co/wmggURqAZD
— POLITICO (@politico) June 4, 2021
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