Fauci: If Trump Wins Again, Count Me Out

Anthony Fauci clashed repeatedly with then-President Trump over COVID policies, and the scientific adviser says he would not do it again. "No," Fauci answered when asked on CNN over the weekend about whether he would serve in a second Trump administration, per the Hill. When CNN's Jim Acosta restated the question, Fauci said that "for sure" he would not return in his role as chief medical adviser to the White House should Trump win again.

"If you look at the history of what the response was during the administration, I think, you know, at best, you can say it wasn't optimal," said Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "And I think just, history will speak for itself about that." He contrasted it with the experience of working under President Biden, which he called "liberating." The response from Trump supporters, who say Fauci is the one who mishandled the pandemic, was unanimous: "As if we needed yet another reason to elect Trump!!!" tweeted the former president's son, Donald Trump Jr. (More Anthony Fauci stories.)