WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s top public health experts, signaled that he feels free to speak honestly about Covid-19 now that former President Donald Trump is out of office.
In his first news briefing since President Joe Biden took office, Fauci said that the new administration was committed to being “completely transparent, open and honest.”
“One of the new things about this administration is that if you don’t know the answer, don’t guess. Just say you don’t know the answer,” Fauci said.
“It is somewhat of a liberating feeling,” Fauci said Thursday of operating under the Biden administration, adding that his commitment to transparency as a public health official often got him in trouble in the Trump administration.
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Fauci helped lead the nation’s response to the coronavirus when the pandemic first hit nearly a year ago, working alongside Trump and members of his White House coronavirus task force. But the relationship was rocky.
Trump was criticized for spreading false or misleading information about the pandemic, frequently contradicting warnings from Fauci and other experts that the situation was dire and needed to be taken seriously. He often refused to wear a mask and ultimately caught the virus himself.
There was frequent speculation that Trump would fire Fauci for contradicting him.
Fauci said that just 15 minutes before the news conference he had met with Biden and discussed how “everything we do will be based on science and evidence.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said that Facui and other public health officials will make more regular appearances in the briefing room to discuss the coronavirus, after the Trump administration largely declined to update the public in the final months of his presidency.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
