If we weren't here for the states, you'd have had a problem in this country like you've never seen before," Trump said. "When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total, and that's the way it's got to be. The Republican president in the past has repeated critical tweets of officials or enemies rather than make the criticism himself. Already a target of the far right for his contradictions of Trump, Fauci drew more opprobrium after the interview. Last week during the daily White House coronavirus briefing, Trump stepped in and prevented Fauci from answering a question about hydroxychloroquine.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 14, 2020 02:37 UTC