'Nobody Likes Me,' Trump Complains at COVID Briefing

He questions why Fauci has high approval ratings
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 28, 2020 7:09 PM CDT
Trump: Why Is Fauci Popular But Not Me?
President Trump arrives for a news conference at the White House, Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

At Tuesday's coronavirus briefing, President Trump addressed the issue of his own popularity. "Nobody likes me," the president complained when a reporter asked why Dr. Anthony Fauci had been absent from recent briefings. "He’s got a very good approval rating, and I like that. It’s good," Trump said, per the Hill. "Because, remember, he’s working for this administration. He’s working with us." Fauci has "got this high approval rating, so why don’t I have a high approval rating ... with respect to the virus?" asked Trump, who has recently shared multiple tweets attacking Fauci's credibility. "It can only be my personality," he said. "That’s all."

Trump abruptly ended the briefing after CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked him about a video he retweeted that ended up being removed by Twitter as coronavirus misinformation. He said he didn't know why Facebook and Twitter had pulled the video, in which a doctor argued that hydroxychloroquine is a coronavirus "cure" so effective that it eliminates the need to wear masks, the Guardian reports. "I’ve read a lot about hydroxy," Trump said before ending the briefing. He described the doctor as "very impressive" and an "important voice," though Collins pointed out that the same doctor made videos claiming that "doctors make medicine using DNA from aliens." US coronavirus deaths neared 150,000 Tuesday, with states including Florida and Oregon reporting record one-day death totals (More President Trump stories.)

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