Fauci Reveals Trump Call That ‘Hit Me Like a Punch To the Chest’

Dr. Anthony Fauci is sharing a call made by former President Donald Trump that “hit” him “like a punch to the chest.”

CNN spoke with multiple former members of the Trump administration’s White House coronavirus task force.

During his interview, Fauci shared that Trump’s push for the country to reopen early during the coronavirus pandemic hit him like a punch to the chest. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, now works as a chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden.

“The thing that hit me like a punch to the chest was then all of a sudden he got up and says, ‘liberate Virginia,’ ‘liberate Michigan,’ and I said to myself, ‘Oh my goodness, what is going on here?’ It shocked me because it was such a jolt to what we were trying to do,” Fauci said.

In April of 2020, Trump called for states to be “” that have Democratic governors who imposed coronavirus restrictions.

Fauci’s remark is in line with Dr. Deborah Birx’s, a former White House coronavirus task force member.