‘Don’t Even Imply That’: Fauci Snaps Back After Reporter Asks If He’s Clarifying Comments ‘Voluntarily’

Dr. Anthony Fauci addressed some comments he made over the weekend and took issue with the idea he was not doing so voluntarily.

On CNN Sunday, Fauci was asked if more lives could have been saved if the U.S. started mitigation against the coronavirus earlier. He said “obviously” it could have, while adding, “But what goes into those kinds of decisions is complicated. But you’re right, I mean, obviously, if we had right from the very beginning shut everything down, it may have been a little bit different. But there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then.”

Today, following those remarks (and the president’s retweet of a “#FireFauci” post), Fauci addressed his comments at the White House coronavirus press briefing and said he was just answering a “hypothetical question.”

He reiterated that obviously mitigation helps before saying, “That was taken as a way that may be somehow something was at fault here. So let me tell you from my experience, and I can only speak for my own experience is that we have been talking before any meetings that we had about the pros and the cons, the effectiveness or not of strong mitigations.”

As Fauci addressed his comments and past discussions with the task force and the president, he was asked if he’s doing this “voluntarily.”

Fauci immediately shot back, “Everything I do is voluntarily. Please. Don’t even imply that.”

You can watch above, via Fox News.

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