Dr. Anthony Fauci Testifies Before Senate On Federal Response To Pandemic
Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, testifies at a Senate Health, Education, and Labor and Pensions Committee on Capitol Hill, on September 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. Graeme Jennings- Pool/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday that the U.S. "could not be positioned more poorly" in dealing with COVID-19 for the winter season.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Fauci also said the country will be "in for a whole lot of hurt" as COVID-19 remains with the cold weather of fall and winter.

Fauci believes the country is heading into a long and potentially winter and the government is unprepared to make tough choices concerning the virus.

The White House strongly pushed back against the statements.

President Trump, for one, has made repeated assertions that COVID-19 was actually "rounding the corner."

According to NBC News, Fauci advised for "abrupt change" in the country's public health practices and behaviors as holidays draw near.

He also lamented the exile he experienced with coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx recently.

White House Slams Fauci for 'Playing Politics'

The statement that really infuriated the White House was Fauci's praise for Democratic nominee Joe Biden's approach to the virus.

Fauci said Biden was "taking it seriously from a public health perspective."

Meanwhile, he compared the Trump administration as that which looks at the virus "from a different perspective," one focused on economy and keeping the U.S. open.

In a Forbes report, it was said that Fauci received critical comments from the White House.

Specifically from Judd Deere, a spokesperson for the president, who said Fauci was "playing politics" three days before the election.

Deere said, as part of the coronavirus task force, it was part of Fauci's duties to push for change in strategy, but the health official has not done that.

According to him, Fauci only criticized the president in the media and made his "political leanings" known by praising Biden.

Deere added that Fauci's comments were "exactly what the American people have come to expect from The Swamp." Fauci is famously known as an apolitical health official.

Fauci Criticizes Pandemic Adviser Dr. Scott Atlas

Trump preferred to seek counsel from another pandemic adviser, Dr. Scott Atlas.

According to New York Times, Atlas has questioned the use of masks and offered some contrarian philosophies when it came to the virus.

Just as he did with the administration, Fauci also directed criticism towards Atlas in the interview with The Washington Post.

He said he had "real problems" with Atlas.

He claimed the adviser was someone who talks about things that he believes "he doesn't have any real insight or knowledge or experience in."

According to Fauci, when someone dissects Atlas' statements, they don't make any sense.

Trump was concerned about the media's coverage of the pandemic and during a recent call with his staff said Fauci was a "disaster."

"The Fake News Media is riding COVID, COVID, COVID, all the way to the Election," Trump tweeted last week.

The president and the nation's top health expert haven't been in contact for months, said a person close to Fauci.

Last month, the two men feuded over the use of Fauci's words in a Trump campaign ad which Fauci said was taken "out of context."

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