(Washington) The little doctor does not let it be told: at 79 years, the American immunologist Anthony Fauci has become the voice of scientific reason on the seriousness of the COVID pandemic – 19 in the face of denials of Donald Trump, but this role earned him the fierce resentment of supporters of the president who claim his head.
Posted on 16 July 2020 at 10 h 48 Updated to 13 h 32
Issam AHMED and Ivan COURONNE
France Media Agency
This doctor by training was famous in the world of infectious diseases and the fight against AIDS before the pandemic, but little known to the general public, and especially not political: he is director of the National Institute of Diseases infectious since 1984.
Today, figurines are made in his effigy and polls conducted on him, with derogatory results for the president: 65% of Americans believe the information that Anthony Fauci gives on the coronavirus, while 67% do not believe Donald Trump, according to a Quinnipiac survey.
Everything changes for him when he joins the presidential cell on the coronavirus, which is widely publicized. Its communication obeys the canons of communication in times of health crisis: simple messages, repeated endlessly, distilled to warn the population without creating panic.
The son of pharmacists, a fan of thrillers and Jason Bourne’s films, becomes a master in the art of politely framing his boss, cultivating his image as a man of truth, outspoken.
“I am walking on a ridge line”, he said in March. “I say things to the president that he does not want to hear.”
After the president hinted at the beginning of March that a vaccine would be available within “three to four months”, the expert specifies, in his rocky New York accent: “As I told you M . President, it will take a year to a year and a half. ”
The balance holds as long as the country is confined but, since June, the crest line has become very narrow. Dr. Fauci has not seen the president since June 2. Donald Trump is focused on reviving the economy, he is no longer interested in health precautions.
When the contagion curve goes up in June, Anthony Fauci raises the alarm publicly. He insists that the United States is going in the wrong direction, that the number of cases detected daily could more than double unless there is a radical change in strategy.
The White House cuts off the microphone: he has not given a television interview since 12 June, according to CNN. And the anti-Fauci campaign is swelling in Trump circles. Her three daughters worry about her safety.
“I do not like conflict, I am an apolitical person, I do not like to be mounted against the president”, he regretted in an interview with InStyle magazine published on Wednesday. “It is not easy to follow the ridge to try to communicate when people want to pit you against the president. It's quite stressful. ”
The truce?
But while other federal officials are accused of hitting the spine in power, including Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), Anthony Fauci continues to speak out .
He speaks on other media almost daily: newspapers, news sites, podcasts, conferences and public online exchanges.
Undaunted, he refutes any error in judgment, like his initial refusal to recommend the universal wearing of the mask, arguing that it was justified by the shortage.
He repeats to anyone who wants to hear him that he does not intend to resign, and that the White House does not have the power to dismiss him, even if it seems immodest.
“At the moment, in all modesty, I find myself quite good. I'm full of energy. I think everyone thinks I'm doing more than excellent work, “he told InStyle .
Although he defends himself from politics, he takes care not to cross a red line: if he criticizes the federal management of the epidemic, he never provokes the president personally.
“On matters of importance, he listens to me,” he said in March. Today, he is simply saying that he is getting his messages through the vice president.
When asked if he is actually prohibited from going on television, he replies: “No comment”, but does not correct it.
When a presidential adviser publishes a forum aimed at discrediting him, he responds vigorously but skillfully adds that the initiative “harms the president”.
Donald Trump disavowed the author of the text in the process. “I get along very well with the D r Fauci, “said the leader on Wednesday. Until the next confrontation.
