10 things you need to know today: November 1, 2020

Fauci criticizes White House over recent pandemic response, Obama, Biden reunite at Michigan rallies, and more

Anthony Fauci.
(Image credit: GRAEME JENNINGS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Fauci criticizes White House over recent pandemic response

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert and White House coronavirus task force member, criticized the Trump administration's recent handling of the pandemic in an interview with The Washington Post published Saturday evening. Fauci said the U.S. "could not be positioned more poorly" heading into the fall and winter, adding that the task force meets less frequently and he and Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force's coordinator, no longer have regular access to the president. Meanwhile, he said, Trump is more focused on re-opening the economy while "the public health aspect of the task force has diminished greatly." Fauci admitted he has "real problems" with Trump's now-favored pandemic adviser, neuroradiologist Scott Atlas, whom he described as a "smart guy who's talking about things that I believe he doesn't have any real insight or knowledge or experience in." The White House called Fauci's statement "unacceptable."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.