Fauci: CNN interview on 'mitigation' was misinterpreted

Fauci: CNN interview on 'mitigation' was misinterpreted

After the White House said top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci would not be fired following an interview with CNN in which he said earlier mitigation could have saved more lives, Fauci said the nature of the 'hypothetical' question got him in some 'difficulty'.

"Hypothetical questions can sometimes get you into some difficulty," Fauci told reporters at the White House coronavirus task force briefing on Monday.

Fauci appeared on CNN's "State of The Union" show on Sunday, where he defended the U.S. coronavirus response but conceded that the government "could have saved more lives" if it had moved sooner to implement social distancing, but added "there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down." Asked by a reporter on Monday if he was making his statement "voluntarily," Fauci responded: "Everything I do is voluntarily.

Please.

Don't even imply that." The White House had said earlier on Monday that President Donald Trump was not firing Fauci despite his retweet of a supporter's #FireFauci message.