That has never been more difficult than in this administration, but Dr. Fauci has recognized that to remain effective, he must navigate Mr. Trump’s mercurial moods and contempt for expertise. The two once enjoyed an occasionally bantering relationship, and the president several times followed Dr. Fauci’s advice to extend national stay-at-home guidance. The criticism, which was distributed anonymously to reporters, detailed what the White House believed was a series of premature or contradictory recommendations that Dr. Fauci has made over the past several months as the virus bore down on the United States. Even some of Dr. Fauci’s senior colleagues at the Department of Health and Human Services have begun to echo the White House. In task force meetings, Dr. Fauci has often styled himself as a solitary pessimist in a room where some officials have been eager to wave away the alarming trajectory of the coronavirus.

Source: New York Times July 13, 2020 23:40 UTC