Trump Selecting Matt Gaetz to Be His Next AG Is Triggering All the...
We're Heading for a Recount in PA...and the Dems Want Illegal Ballots Counted.
Trump Must Make America the 80s Again
Biden's Historic Meeting With Trump Unintentionally Led to the Funniest Photo Op of...
Democrats Quitting X Will Be Missed…By Someone…Probably
One Newspaper Begins the Media Purge, and Journos Quitting Social Media Generate Yawns...
Trump's Chance to Change Taxation
Election 2024: Not So Random Thoughts
The Trump Doctrine
Trump’s Brilliant Choices Of Youngbloods Hegseth and Gaetz
The GOP's Gigantic Opportunity
Hey, Democrats -- It's Your Policies
American Greatness
No Roe-vember: Why Americans Didn’t Buy Kamala’s Abortion Lie
Why Are We Ignoring the American Hostages in Gaza?
Tipsheet

Fauci Rejects CNN Doctor's Assessment of Trump Admin's Coronavirus Response

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

South Korea announced its first coronavirus cases around the same time the U.S. did, back in January. Yet, two months later and the U.S. has 50 times more cases and almost 100 times more fatalities. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has suggested that that discrepancy is because the U.S. did not act quickly enough on its mitigation efforts. 

Advertisement

"I think that we acted late, Jake," he told CNN host Jake Tapper on Sunday's "State of the Union."

He added that we "did not test adequately," and it allowed the virus to circulate in communities across the country.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Tapper that Gupta's assessment was "unfair.

"You know it isn't as simple as that, Jake, I'm sorry," Fauci responded.

It's unfair to compare us to South Korea, Fauci explained, because they were able to completely shut everything down, a move that the U.S. "may not have been able to do." There were several factors to consider.

"I don't think you can say we are where we are because of one factor," Fauci said. "It's very complicated, Jake."

Fauci, a White House coronavirus task force member, conceded that "obviously" if they had started the mitigation process and social distancing earlier, lives could have been spared. But, the doctor refused to get into hypotheticals. What goes into those kinds of decisions, he argued, is "complicated." 

Advertisement

"There was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then," Fauci recalled.

Yet, Dr. Fauci expressed his cautious optimism that America could be turning the tide soon, as the rate of hospializations are beginning to level in hotspots like New York City. Once we get the capability to test in real time, he noted, we can begin a "gradual, rolling reentry" to normal life.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement