Dr. Anthony Fauci skipped President Donald Trump’s event celebrating the development of a coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday.
A Trump administration official told Breitbart News on Monday that Fauci wanted to attend the event but would not do so due to a “scheduling conflict.”
The long-term director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases revealed Tuesday afternoon that he instead attended an event celebrating his colleague Dr. Harvey Alter getting the Nobel Prize of Medicine.
Several public health officials did attend Trump’s event at the White House, including White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Ambassador Deborah Birx, M.D., Director of the Centers for Disease Control Dr. Robert Redfield, Chief Advisor of Operation Warp Speed Dr. Moncef Slaoui, and Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Dr. Peter Marks.
Fauci made a point, however, of sending a pre-recorded video to a press event with former Vice President Joe Biden instead, thanking him for appointing him as an advisor on fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
“Dr. Fauci is trusted, a truth-teller, a patriot. Like every good doctor, he’ll tell me what I need to know, not what I want to know,” Biden said.
Biden’s event took place at roughly the same time as Trump’s event on Tuesday afternoon.
The White House also took a few subtle shots against Fauci at the summit.
A video released by the White House for the summit featured Dr. Fauci as a critic of the president’s optimistic timeline of getting a vaccine developed by the end of the year.
pic.twitter.com/QzZfCIdVDD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2020
In his video address to Biden, Fauci pointedly noted that the former Vice President was “president-elect.”
“In the fight against this pandemic we must lead with science and that a key piece of our ongoing work is communicating constantly with the American people,” Fauci said.
He endorsed the idea of continuing policies requiring social distancing, preventing congregations indoors, and Biden’s proposal of a 100-day mask mandate.
“These actions are bold but they are doable, and essential to help the public avoid unnecessary risks,” Fauci said, noting that he “looked forward” to working with Biden and “world-class experts” in his upcoming administration.
