Fauci Says He Was ‘Not Aware’ Trump Got Vaccinated in January: ‘Lost Opportunity’ He Didn’t Do It Publicly

Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN Wednesday night that he was not aware Donald Trump was vaccinated in January.

It wasn’t publicly known that the former president and first lady got vaccinated until this week, a move that received criticism for not doing it in public to encourage more people.

CNN’s Erin Burnett asked Fauci about the news and people saying at the time he could’ve done so publicly to “send this message to a very vaccine-resistant Republican base.”

“Were you aware at the time that he got the vaccine?” Burnett asked.

“No, Erin, I was not. I was not aware that he was vaccinated,” Fauci responded.

Burnett asked if Trump missed a big opportunity to make a difference and convince his base the vaccines are safe.

“Certainly there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that former President Trump is very, very popular among his constituencies,” Fauci said. “That would’ve been an extraordinarily good opportunity to get a signal to the people who would clearly have listened to him the way they listened to him in many other ways. He has a great deal of influence.”

He lamented it was a “lost opportunity” to convince hesitant Americans.

You can watch above, via CNN.