Acosta also asked Fauci if he would have confidence in Trump’s ability to respond to Covid-19, if it’s still a threat, or another public health emergency.
“If you look at the history of what the response was during the administration, I think, you know, at best you could say it wasn’t optimal,” Fauci said. “And I think just history will speak for itself about that.”
Trump attacked Fauci publicly, suggesting at one point he was considering firing him, and by the end of his presidency, Fauci was largely sidelined.
Fauci admitted last year that it was “uncomfortable” when drugs such as hydroxychloroquine were promoted as treatments for Covid-19 when it wasn’t evidence-based, and that he takes “no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the President.”
He called it a “liberating feeling” to be able to “talk about what you know, what the evidence, what the science is,” without fear of repercussion.