The White House's campaign against Anthony Fauci is a symptom of a bigger problem - 2020-07-16

The White House's campaign against Anthony Fauci is a symptom of a bigger problem July 16, 2020, Dylan Scott, Vox

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The White House decided this week — the same week the US is seeing record Covid-19 cases nationwide, driven by the outbreaks in California, Florida, and Texas — was the right time to try to discredit the most widely respected scientist in the Trump administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

He was first targeted with a whisper campaign by administration sources to top White House reporters. A few days later, Trump's top trade official dispensed with the whispering and said it loud and clear in a USA Today op-ed: Fauci should not be trusted.

The public, it appears, would disagree. Fauci continues to enjoy a much higher approval rating and much more public trust than the president of the United States. As an earthy but authoritative voice on the coronavirus pandemic, Fauci inadvertently broke the first rule of the Trump White House: Nobody gets to outshine the president. The disinformation campaign against him from Trump loyalists can likely be explained, at least in part, by those clashing personalities.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | first = Dylan | last = Scott | title = The White House's campaign against Anthony Fauci is a symptom of a bigger problem | url = https://www.vox.com/2020/7/16/21326875/covid-19-coronavirus-anthony-fauci-donald-trump-peter-navarro | work = Vox | date = July 16, 2020 | accessdate = July 17, 2020 }}