Megyn Kelly’s much-anticipated interview with former President Donald Trump dropped today, and one of the big takeaways is that Trump is proud of his Covid-19 policies, including keeping Dr. Anthony Fauci front and center in his administration during the pandemic and rushing vaccines to market.
“I never got the credit I deserve on Covid,” said Trump, patting himself on the back for his “tremendous response” that saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
Kelly asked the 77-year-old former president why he didn’t fire the controversial Fauci, who was empowered by Trump and allowed free reign to push lockdowns, masks, and vaccines on Americans.
“I didn’t listen to him too much,” Trump interjected.
“Not only did you not fire Fauci, who is loathed by many — millions of Republicans in particular, but also some Democrats — you made him a star,” Kelly shot back. “This is the criticism of you, that you made him the face of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. That he was out at every presser, that he was running herd for the administration on Covid, and that you actually gave him a presidential commendation before you left office. Wouldn’t you like a do-over on that?”
Related: Did Trump Learn Anything From the Mistakes That Cost Him the White House?
Trump insisted that he “overrode” many of the things Fauci did. “Now, with that all being said, he’s been there for years. He was respected. He lost a lot of the respect because of Covid. But he was respected.” He denied knowing how Fauci managed to get a presidential commendation.
“Ah… I don’t know who gave him the commendation. I really don’t know who gave him the commendation,” Trump insisted, even though it bore his signature. “Somebody probably handed him” the commendation, which was given to Fauci on Trump’s last day in office.
Trump hinted that civil service laws may have prevented him from firing the power-hungry federal bureaucrat but then dismissed that notion.
“Okay, look, I’m not one that blames a system that if you’re civil service or if you have some other protection, that you can’t get fired because I’ve done things that are a lot worse than that,” he explained.
“You’re big on the firing,” said Kelly.
Trump pointed out some of the people he’d fired, including FBI Director James Comey. “But I wasn’t, I was not a big fan of Fauci,” he insisted.
Yet Trump extravagantly praised Fauci in 2020:
- “We have, whether it’s Dr. Fauci, we have the best people on Earth. We have the most talented people on Earth.”
- “Dr. Fauci is great.”
- “He’s a good man. I like Dr. Fauci a lot, just so you understand.”
Then, after retweeting someone in 2020 who said that Fauci should be fired, Trump walked it back and said, “Today I walk in, and I hear I’m going to fire him. I’m not going to fire him. I think he’s a wonderful guy… I think he’s terrific.”
Kelly asked Trump if he’d like a “do-over” on rushing vaccines to the market.
“That was a big move. I saved thousands, hundreds of thousands of lives by doing it. But honestly, nobody, I don’t blame a lot of people because nobody knew what [Covid] was. Now we do understand it somewhat. Nobody really understands it, even now, fully. But nobody knew what Covid was,” he insisted.
“I’m not somebody who denies some of the good that the vaccines did. I lived through that, too,” replied Kelly. “But of course, a lot of people have been vaccine-injured. And that’s one of the questions. Those people are mad that they were rushed through and that they can’t sue.”
“I never got the credit I deserve on Covid,” he complained.
The interview raises the question of what Trump would do in the event of another pandemic if elected to a second term next year. Given his lack of repentance — or lack of awareness about the damage caused by mask mandates, lockdowns, and vaccines, it seems that we could very well see a repeat of Fauciism, with another “expert” bureaucrat telling us how to run our lives and raise our children. That’s rather troubling, to be honest.
Watch the interview here:
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