The White House also made the information available to other reporters, some of whom described it as “opposition research.”ADADAcademics and researchers rallied to defend Fauci. “When you begin to discredit scientists like Fauci, who are national treasures, you are in serious trouble.”Critics of the White House noted that some of the Fauci statements cited by the White House were taken out of context, or incomplete. For example, the White House has criticized Fauci for initially saying, like other health experts, that the general public didn’t need to wear masks. Fauci, he tweeted, “has not been well-schooled in bootlicking and sycophancy.”During the White House press briefing Monday, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted that so-called opposition research was not “being dumped” on reporters. ADIn a tweet Sunday, Carlos del Rio, an infectious-disease specialist at Emory University School of Medicine, accused the White House of not only sidelining Fauci but also of smearing him.

Source: Washington Post July 13, 2020 22:36 UTC