Here's How Dr. Fauci Feels About Working Under Biden

'Liberating' is a word the doctor used
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 22, 2021 12:38 AM CST
Updated Jan 22, 2021 3:00 AM CST
Here's How Dr. Fauci Feels About Working Under Biden
President Joe Biden signs executive orders after speaking about the coronavirus, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Wondering how Dr. Anthony Fauci, frequently dissed and ultimately sidelined by former President Trump, feels about working in the Biden administration? Pretty darn good, he revealed in answer to a question at Thursday's White House press briefing. "I can tell you I take no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the president, so it was really something that you didn’t feel you could actually say something and there wouldn’t be any repercussions about it," the nation's top infectious disease expert said, per the Hill and CNN. "The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence and science is, and know that’s it—let the science speak—it is somewhat of a liberating feeling." With this administration, "if you don't know the answer, don't guess," he said. "Just say you don't know the answer."

"One of the things that was very clear as recently as about 15 minutes ago when I was with the president, is that one of the things we’re going to do is be completely transparent open and honest," he continued. "If things go wrong, not point fingers but correct them, and to make everything we do be based on science and evidence. That was literally a conversation I had 15 minutes ago with the president, and he has said that multiple times." Compare that to the death threats Fauci received after Trump started publicly airing his displeasure with the doctor. But Fauci had some nice things to say about the Trump administration, noting that this administration is "certainly ... not starting from scratch" and that the prior one did make a good start with regards to vaccine distribution and had some good ideas that will now be amplified. (More coronavirus stories.)

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