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Dr. Anthony Fauci says he will leave position if Trump is reelected

White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said that he would leave his role if former President Donald Trump was reelected.

"Well, no," Fauci told CNN in an interview with a laugh when asked whether he would remain in his position if the former president retook the White House. Trump hasn't launched a presidential campaign for 2024, but has frequently suggested he's seriously considering a second run.

The infectious disease expert added that the Trump administration's response to the pandemic "wasn't optimal," at best.

In this March 18, 2021 file photo, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the federal coronavirus response on Capitol Hill in Washington.
In this March 18, 2021 file photo, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the federal coronavirus response on Capitol Hill in Washington.

"I think just history will speak for itself about that," Fauci said.

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Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has served under seven presidents since 1984 for a total of 38 years. Though his relationship with the former president was sometimes fraught, Fauci said in 2020 that attacks by Trump "are mere distractions."

"They don't bother me," he said. "I know what my job is, and I've gotta do it, and I'm going to do it."

Conservatives cheer this news

Right-wing pundits expressed excitement and relief at the prospect of Fauci's departure, suggesting Fauci's would-be departure could bolster Trump's support at the polls.

"If Donald Trump runs, this can only help his turnout," Fox News host Sean Hannity tweeted Monday.

"As if we needed another reason to want Trump to run!" Donald Trump Jr. also tweeted Monday, alongside a link displaying Fauci dressed as a clown.

Numerous social media users, including Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, suggested Fauci would be sent to prison if Trump returns to office in 2024, some using the hashtag #ArrestFauci to advocate for his imprisonment on unsubstantiated charges he helped create or release the novel coronavirus that caused the pandemic.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fauci has been central to a number of conspiracy theories and unproven claims about the virus and its origin – a trend he once described as "very troubling."

“The anti-science atmosphere that many of us have experienced is very troubling," Fauci told GBH News’s “Boston Public Radio” show on May 9. "Because if ever there was a time where you wanted to pull together on the basis of data and facts, and proper, true information, it’s when you’re trying to get the country out of a historic, devastating pandemic. And unfortunately, we’re living in an era where the normalization of untruths is just so much part of what we live with."

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Not all wished Fauci away on social media. One user suggested Fauci's decades of experience far outweigh whatever scientific knowledge may be held by the former president, while another described him as "brilliant and patient and empathetic and we would all be dead if not for him."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fauci won't stay in position is Trump is reelected in 2024