Health Care Workers Sign Letter Resisting Trump Administration's 'Political Efforts to Silence' Fauci

Doctors and health care workers are defending Dr. Anthony Fauci against criticism from Trump administration members and are calling on the president to bring the leading infectious disease expert back for regular briefings on the coronavirus crisis.

On Tuesday, 100 physicians and health care workers signed a letter praising Fauci's expertise and his being an "independent and reliable voice" regardless of political consequences. Amid rumors that Fauci is being sidelined by the administration because his opinions ran contrary to Donald Trump's, the letter's signatories said America must continue to include Fauci in the response to the crisis and "resist political efforts to silence his invaluable counsel."

"In the face of a global deadly pandemic that has claimed more than 137,000 American lives and sickened millions more, we need Dr. Fauci's experience, candor and expertise to navigate a safe, responsible way forward, providing both direction and hope to our nation," the letter, posted on the Committee to Protect Medicare's website, said.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has advised every president since Ronald Reagan. Both he and the White House have maintained that their relationship isn't the tense one depicted in news reports, but the denial has done little to curb rumors that he is on thin ice with the administration.

A Washington Post story published this past Saturday said Fauci had been sidelined by the administration and no longer briefs the president. Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity last Thursday that Fauci is a "nice man" but that he's made "a lot of mistakes." Multiple members of his administration have publicly disagreed with Fauci's take on the pandemic, including Daniel Scavino Jr., the White House's deputy chief of staff for communications, and Peter Navarro, a top trade adviser to Trump.

Navarro told the Post that Fauci was "wrong about everything I have ever interacted with him on" and that he listens to his advice "with caution." On Monday, Scavino shared a political cartoon mocking Fauci as "Dr. Faucet," on Facebook.

In responding to the Post story, a White House official sent a list of remarks Fauci made during the early months of the outbreak. The official added that some people were concerned about "the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things."

Meanwhile, Fauci's defenders, including members of the academic and scientific community and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, rushed to his defense.

Signatories of the letter said one of Fauci's "greatest values" to Americans during the pandemic is his "constant commitment" to focusing on facts, science and data, even if it means breaking with the president. They called him a "sober voice" that balances medical data and information "against the understandable human desire to put the pandemic behind us."

Fauci, who used to appear at the White House coronavirus task force's regular briefings, hasn't been at the podium in more than a month, and the letter's signatories called for that to change. They want the Trump administration to restore Fauci's regular briefings and "to cease all efforts to undermine his credibility and integrity."

On Monday, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany denied Fauci was no longer advising the president. She told Fox News' Fox & Friends that information from Fauci was being transmitted to Trump through the task force, even if he wasn't meeting with the president directly.

In a press briefing later in the day, McEnany told reporters Fauci and the president "have always had a very good working relationship." She said Trump still appreciates Fauci's advice, takes the varying opinions and "moves forward in a way he thinks is best for this country."

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.