Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is trying to find angles to attack former President Donald Trump as it appears highly likely that DeSantis will challenge Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination.
DeSantis will take the latest tact to go after the former President for his past compliments of Dr. Fauci during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fox News reports that DeSantis is attempting to compare himself and the former President by saying that he would have fired Dr. Fauci instead of taking his advice on handling the situation with COVID as Trump did.
When asked about the differences between himself and Trump, DeSantis said:
Well, I think there are a few things, and The approach to COVID was different. I would have fired somebody like Fauci. I think he got way too big for his britches, and [I think] he did a lot of damage.
Fox News reports that in January 2021, Trump awarded presidential commendations to Fauci for his work in providing information to the public about COVID-19 and its impacts. In particular, Fauci was awarded these commendations for his work on Operation Warp Speed. Operation Warp Speed was the Trump Administrations initiative to work on creating a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus as quickly as possible.
DeSantis may view this as a potential vulnerability for the former President because Fauci famously flipped positions on critical issues, such as the necessity of wearing masks during the height of the pandemic. It turns out that Fauci did not base his advice on facts and evidence. Instead, many feel that Fauci promoted certain viewpoints based on his politics and what was helpful for him then. That is the kind of thing that many Republicans take issue with and feel upset about.
Fox News says that Fauci wiped a tear away as he witnessed President Bidens swearing-in as President, as seen in a new PBS documentary. These types of potential political leanings and contradictions make Fauci such a radioactive character to many people in public.
He seems like the kind of person that could be useful to make a case against if you are on Team DeSantis, and it appears that this is precisely what DeSantis team has decided to do at this time as well. It will be interesting to see how DeSantis chooses to go after this issue.
Login