Donald Trump is trying to turn the government’s top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, into a scapegoat for the nation’s struggle with the coronavirus, just weeks before the Nov. 3 election that hinges on the president’s handling of the pandemic.
Trump repeatedly assailed Fauci during campaign events on Monday, claiming at one point — with no substantiation or explanation — that had he followed the advice of the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, hundreds of thousands more Americans would have died.
The attacks followed an interview with Fauci on "60 Minutes” on Sunday, during which he said he wasn’t surprised that the president had contracted COVID-19 himself.