Dr. Anthony Fauci is hitting back against the "bizarre" recent attacks from the White House.
Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, spoke to The Atlantic on Wednesday after the White House recently sent a document to reporters listing instances in which he's been "wrong" in what was essentially opposition research against him. President Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, also wrote an op-ed this week going after Fauci and claiming he "has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on."
"[The White House document] is totally wrong," Fauci told The Atlantic. "It's nonsense. It's completely wrong. The whole thing is wrong. The whole thing is incorrect."
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Fauci said he didn't know why the White House released the document, calling the decision to attack him "bizarre" and saying that "I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that" but that "I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because it's only reflecting negatively on them."
According to Fauci, he talked about the document with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who didn't offer an apology but claimed he didn't know about it. As far as Navarro goes, Fauci sounded equally baffled by his op-ed, saying, "I can't explain Peter Navarro. He's in a world by himself. So I don't even want to go there."
On Wednesday morning, the White House sought to distance itself from Navarro's op-ed, and President Trump said that his trade adviser "shouldn't" have published it.
Given the recent attacks, Fauci was asked in the interview if he's thought about resigning, but said, "No. I think the problem is too important for me to get into those kinds of thoughts and discussions."
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