Dr. Anthony Fauci Returns for Tuesday White House Coronavirus Briefing, and Viewers Sound Off

Christian Long

03/25/2020 11:15 am EDT

After a very conspicuous absence on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci was once again present at the daily White House briefing on coronavirus. Fauci is not only the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, but a member of the federal coronavirus response team.

In recent weeks, Fauci has also become something of a stabilizing stable figure that many have turned to as President Donald Trump and his administration continues to be criticized for their handling of the ongoing pandemic. For example, Trump said on Monday that he hopes to reassess the guidelines regarding social distancing and self-isolation at the end of the current recommended 15-day self-isolation period. Fauci, however, refuted the president by warning against the "opening up" of America was a premature call to make this early on.

"I can't jump in front of the microphone and push him down," Fauci told Science about his role in addressing the crisis. Instead, he described it more like, "OK, he said it. Let's try and get it corrected for the next time."

Though Fauci admits to the limitations he faces at these coronavirus briefings, his presence was nonetheless appreciated.

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Fauci joined the National Institutes of Health in 1968. By 1974, he became Head of the Clinical Physiology Section and in 1980 was appointed Chief of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation. Four years later, he became Director of NIAID, which he still holds to this day.

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"We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself," Trump said about coronavirus on Monday. "We're not going to let the cure be worse than the problem. At the end of the 15-day period, we'll make a decision as to which way we want to go."

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Despite the president's recommendation, many health officials, Fauci included, say this would likely make the pandemic worse. Especially given the lack of data on the virus itself.

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Last week, Fauci made ig clear that any evidence being reported about possible drug therapies treating coronavirus were strictly "anecdotal," and not the result of an actual clinical trial. Fauci also added that no one can "make any definitive statement about it."

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As Fauci was speaking, the president jumped to say that he felt "good" about the test treatments and disclosed that the federal government had already ordered "millions of units" of them.

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Fauci also ended up going viral after ignoring his own advice and facepalming during an earlier White House briefing when Trump made a "Deep State" joke when answering a question.

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