Explicit rants and "love": Fauci recounts toxic relationship with Trump in new book
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File photo from March 2020: Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stands as then-President Trump Trump exits during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House. Photo: Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/Bloomberg via Getty
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading infectious disease expert who became a COVID-era celebrity, is out Tuesday with an autobiography that details his fraught relationship with former President Trump.
Why it matters: Fauci is one of several ex-Trump administration officials who have published books — and his comes as Trump vies for a second term. Whether the tell-alls will impact voters' impressions of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee remains to be seen.
- "On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service" chronicles Fauci's decades-long career as director of National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and time as President Biden's chief medical adviser plus early childhood in Brooklyn.
- Seventy of the book's 400-plus pages are dedicated to the first year of the COVID pandemic, when Trump was in office, The New York Times reported.
The intrigue: Fauci shares some of the mixed messaging from Trump in a chapter entitled "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not." Their fallout isn't new information, but the book contains some more nuance about their interactions, according to outlets who have reviewed copies.
- Fauci claims Trump would repeatedly express love for him then unleash expletive-laden rants. He at one point accused Fauci of costing the U.S. economy "one trillion f**king dollars."
- "I have a pretty thick skin," Dr. Fauci wrote, per The Times, "but getting yelled at by the president of the United States, no matter how much he tells you that he loves you, is not fun."
- He recounts tense interactions with Trump, who openly defied public health measures including masking, social distancing and eventually vaccine mandates. Fauci also wrote about Trump's own eventual hospitalization with COVID.
During their last-ever phone call on Nov. 1, 2020, Trump reportedly said, "Tony "I really like you, and you know that, but what the f**k are you doing? You really need to be positive. You constantly drop bombs on me."
- Fauci had told The Washington Post that the U.S. was still in for "a whole lot of hurt" as COVID cases and deaths surged.
Between the lines: Trump's handling of the pandemic played a significant role in the 2020 election.
- While much Trump coverage now focuses on his four criminal indictments and the Jan. 6 insurrection, President Biden still swipes at his COVID-era gaffes.
- At a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles over the weekend, the president quipped: "Remember the pandemic, [Trump] said, 'Don't worry, just inject a little bleach.' It worked for him — the color of his hair."
Flashback: While Trump would appear with Fauci at regular news conferences at the outset of the pandemic, the relationship grew more visibly distant as the year wore on.
- He would attack Fauci at campaign rallies and suggested he'd fire him if he was re-elected.
- Fauci, who worked under seven U.S. presidents and retired from NIAID in 2022, is currently a distinguished professor at Georgetown's School of Medicine.
What's next: Some book tour events.
- Fauci appeared recently on Capitol Hill as one of his aides faced bipartisan scrutiny for using a personal email in communications about COVID origins.
- He also took aim at firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and conservative media, saying they contributed to the death threats he and his family have faced since the pandemic began.
