White House coronavirus briefings set to return today — but no one told Fauci, he says
The country’s top infectious disease expert says he wasn’t aware of plans to resume White House coronavirus briefings this week.
President Donald Trump told reporters during a news conference Monday he would resume the regular briefings, likely on Tuesday.
“I think what we’re going to do is, I’ll get involved and we’ll start doing briefings, whether it’s this afternoon or tomorrow — probably tomorrow — and I’ll do briefings,” he said, per CNBC.
The president is scheduled to hold a news conference at 5 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, according to the White House.
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, seemed to be unaware of that plan during an interview Monday.
“I don’t know if there’s even going to be a briefing tomorrow — I don’t know that,” he told NBC anchor Maria Shriver during the interview. “I don’t think there’s been any firm decision about when they will start.”
When asked if he would be joining the president for the briefing, Fauci answered: “I would assume I am.”
“I have not gotten official word of when the next one is,” he told Shriver. “I was down at the White House just this afternoon. If they start the briefings, I would imagine I’m going to be part of it — at least some of it.”
The once-regular Coronavirus task force briefings fizzled out at the end of April following disputes between Trump and reporters and criticisms that, during the sometimes hours-long briefings, the president touted untrue or misleading information and often divulged into other topics, ABC News reports.
It’s unclear which members — if any — of the task force, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, will be present for the briefing set for Tuesday.
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said “they’re still figuring that out” when asked on CBS This Morning if he, Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx would be present.
“I know that as they resume we will be there in a different roles,” he said.
Even if Fauci isn’t at the briefing, you can still hear what he has to say; he’s scheduled to be interviewed at 4 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday on CNN.
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 1:44 PM with the headline "White House coronavirus briefings set to return today — but no one told Fauci, he says."
