Dr. Anthony Fauci had his taxpayer-funded security detail pulled, President Trump confirmed during a press conference Friday.
“I think when you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off, and you know, you can’t have them forever,” Trump told a reporter at a hurricane response briefing in Asheville, NC.
“We took some off other people too,” he noted, apparently referring to former national security adviser John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“They can hire their own security too. … I can give them some good numbers of very good security people,” Trump added. “Fauci made a lot of money. They all did.”
Asked if he would feel “partially responsible if something were to happen” to Fauci or Bolton, Trump responded: “Certainly I would not take responsibility.”
Fauci, who is still facing threats over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, has hired personal security since having the government detail revoked on Thursday, according to CNN.
The longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has been accused of funneling taxpayer money oversees for dangerous gain-of-function research — including at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, from where many believe SARS‑CoV‑2 leaked to kick off a worldwide pandemic.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) had requested security for Fauci back in 2020 due to the death threats he was receiving for the role he played in advising the government during the pandemic. --->READ MORE HERETrump cancels Dr. Anthony Fauci's security detail: 'You can't have them forever':
President Donald Trump announced Friday he had cancelled federal security detail for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease.
“When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off,” Trump told reporters during a press briefing in Fletcher, N.C. “You can’t have them forever.”
Trump said the security detail for the 84-year-old immunologist and former chief medical adviser to former President Joe Biden was removed Thursday because it can’t last a lifetime and Fauci could hire his own protection.
A doctor for the National Institutes of Health for more than half a century, Fauci led the federal health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to harsh criticism from Republicans about studies of the origin of the disease and the lockdowns to combat it during the first year.
On Friday, sources close to the situation confirmed to USA TODAY that Fauci’s security detail has been canceled, and going forward, Fauci will pay for his own security detail.
A spokesperson for Fauci declined to comment on Trump's move.
Fauci previously said he and his family have received threats throughout the pandemic, including death threats. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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