Dr. Anthony Fauci reveals his ongoing battle to reason with Trump in surprisingly candid interview: 'You have to say things 1, 2, 3, 4 times'

During an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci — director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) — for Science Magazine, writer Jon Cohen asked the well-known immunologist a blunt question: how has he managed to avoid getting fired from President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force? Fauci responded that despite disagreements “on some things,” Trump “does listen to what I say.” But Fauci, during the interview, went on to say that he has to repeat himself a lot with Trump — and some pundits are saying Fauci probably would have been fired by now were he not so widely respected.

Fauci told Cohen, “When you’re dealing with the White House, sometimes you have to say things one, two, three, four times — and then, it happens. So, I’m going to keep pushing.”

When the Washington Post’s Jenna Johnson tweeted the interview and highlighted the “one, two, three, four times” quote, Twitter user Josh Jordan responded, “This quote is really stunning, and if Fauci wasn’t so well respected by both sides right now, Trump would’ve fired him this morning.”

Another Twitter user,  @heelsoneal, asserted, “The MAGAs started attacking Fauci this weekend. They think he's part of the deep state.”

During the interview, Fauci described some of his disagreements with Trump — for example, watching the president recently shaking hands with people in the White House Rose Garden.

“We should not be doing that,” Fauci said of Trump continuing to shake hands. “Not only that — we should be physically separating a bit more on those press conferences. To his credit, the Vice President (Mike Pence) is really pushing for physical separation of the task force (during meetings). He keeps people out of the room; as soon as the room gets like more than 10 people or so, it’s ,‘Out, everybody else out. Go to a different room.’”

When Cohen brought up the fact that “there are certainly more than ten journalists in the audience” during White House media events — which health experts are saying is problematic from a social distancing standpoint— Fauci responded, “I know that. I’m trying my best. I cannot do the impossible.”