Undermining Fauci isn’t productive during coronavirus pandemic, SC Sen. Graham says
In Columbia on Tuesday, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said efforts by the Trump administration to undermine Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, are not productive.
According to reports, White House officials have tried to discredit Fauci, who has voiced concerns over the economy’s reopening amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic.
“He’s been around a long time. He’s one of the smartest people I know. Has he been right all the time? No,” Graham said of Fauci. “We don’t have a Dr. Fauci problem. We need to be focusing on doing things that get us to where we need to go. I have all the respect in the world for Dr. Fauci. I think any effort to undermine him is not going to be productive quite frankly.”
Graham spoke to reporters after meeting with hospital administrators at the S.C. Hospital Association office Tuesday.
Graham and a Hospital Association official said the country needs better access to testing for the coronavirus.
Graham said batch testing would allow tests to run more quickly, as there have been recent reports of people needing to wait days if not a week for their COVID-19 tests.
“Testing is moving forward, but we are running into slow downs because of the lack of supplies and reagents,” said Thorton Kirby, the CEO of the S.C. Hospital Association.
Fauci has said reopening the country’s economy too quickly would lead to outbreaks of the coronavirus around the nation. There have been 3.3 million cases of COVID-19 in the country, including 60,220 people in South Carolina.
President Donald Trump, who has been pushing states to reopen businesses and schools and only recently began wearing a mask in public, said last week that Fauci has made mistakes during the pandemic, but Fauci has polled higher in terms of trustworthiness than the president during the crisis.
“Getting into a contest with Dr. Fauci about whether he was right or wrong doesn’t move the ball forward,” said Graham, an ally and frequent defender of the president.
