Dr. Fauci Says He Doesn’t ‘Recall’ Saying Trump is ‘Rudderless’ and Has a ‘Minus Number’ Attention Span

On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci disputed Bob Woodward’s account that the National Institute of Infectious Diseases director slammed President Donald Trump over his coronavirus leadership.

Fauci gave an interview to Fox News’ John Roberts shortly after Woodward’s bombshell tapes emerged of Trump acknowledging the lethality of the coronavirus were, but saying his plan was to publicly downplay it. When asked for his response, Fauci said he did not recall Trump downplay the virus as alleged, and that Trump’s remarks during coronavirus press briefings were in line with discussions among the White House’s Covid-19 task force.

“He didn’t really say anything different than we discussed when we were with him. I may not be tuned in to the right thing they’re talking about. I didn’t see any discrepancies what he told us and what we told him and what he ultimately came out publicly and said.”

Fauci added that “I didn’t get any sense [Trump] was distorting anything,” though he later added that “it may have happened, but I have not seen that kinds of distortion.” As Roberts continued to inquire as to the contradiction between Trump’s comments and the White House’s public messaging, Fauci hedged on his response before saying “I don’t recall anything that was any gross distortion in things that I spoke to him about.”

Eventually, Roberts noted that Woodward attributes a number of quotes to Fauci slamming Trump’s “rudderless” leadership, saying “[Trump’s] attention span is like a minus number,” and “his sole purpose is to get reelected.” When asked if those quotes were correct, Fauci replied by saying that Woodward was drawing upon the words of others, and “you should ask others. I don’t recall that at all.”

“I don’t want to get involved in that kind of stuff. That is very distracting to the kind of things I’m trying to do and that we’re all trying to do with this outbreak,” he said.

Watch above, via Fox News.