President Trump is not firing Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House said in a statement Monday, warning against speculation after Trump on Sunday retweeted a call for the removal of the nation’s top infectious disease expert. “This media chatter is ridiculous,” said the statement, which was signed by White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley. “President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci.” The statement went on to attack the media, saying, “The President’s tweet clearly exposed media attempts to maliciously push a falsehood about his China decision in an attempt to rewrite history. It was Democrats and the media who ignored Coronavirus choosing on impeachment instead, and when they finally did comment on the virus it was to attack President Trump for taking the bold decisive action to save American lives by cutting off travel from China and Europe. Dr. Fauci has been and remains a trusted advisor to President Trump.” 

President Trump on Sunday retweeted a post by DeAnna Lorraine, a Trump supporter and former congressional candidate in California, that included the hashtag #FireFauci.” She wrote: “Fauci is now saying that had Trump listened to the medical experts earlier he could’ve saved more lives. Fauci was telling people on February 29th that there was nothing to worry about and it posed no threat to the US public at large.” Earlier on Sunday in an interview with CNN, Fauci said the government “could have saved more lives” if it had acted sooner on the coronavirus threat.