Donald Trump Slams COVID-19 Death Toll, Gets Blasted by Dr. Anthony Fauci: ‘The Deaths Are Real’

Dr. Anthony Fauci was not pleased with the latest comments made by Donald Trump regarding the COVID-19 death tolls. In a tweet on Sunday, the president said the numbers being presented during the pandemic are “exaggerated” due to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “ridiculous method of determination” compared to how other countries across the globe report their numbers.

In response to Trump’s tweet, Fauci jumped ABC’s This Week to fire a counterpunch to the president’s claims. “The deaths are real deaths,” Fauci stated. “All you need to do is to go out into the trenches, go into the hospitals, see what the healthcare workers are dealing with. They are under very stressed situations. In many areas across the country the hospital beds are stretched, people are running out of beds and running out of trained personnel. They are exhausted right now. That’s real. That’s not fake.”

Trump later put out a separate tweet about Fauci after his appearance. He called out the “lamestream media” for putting Fauci in such a spotlight but not giving him any credit despite the doctor being a part of his administration. Trump wrote on Twitter, “Something how Dr. Fauci is revered by the Lamestream Media as such a great professional… and I am in no way given any credit for my work. Gee, could this just be more Fake News?” Fauci will continue to serve in the state capital when he becomes the Chief Medical Advisor to Joe Biden at the end of January.

The back-and-forth between the two men comes at a time when the U.S. saw its highest numbers in December. The month had more than 77,000 deaths with over 6.4 million cases. Going into the winter months, Fauci had warned about darker days coming for the country due to outdoor gatherings being less amid the cold weather and more people gathering indoors despite urges from local officials to remain in the same household. Fauci once again reminded everyone during his latest appearance that things will continue to “get worse in the next couple of weeks.” He even called the rise in cases “predictable” but there can be measurements taken to lessen the blow of what lies ahead in January and February.