Dr. Anthony Fauci had some unusually harsh words for both Fox News and President Trump’s new coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas in a new interview with CNN’s media reporter Brian Stelter. In excerpts that aired on CNN Monday afternoon, Fauci said, “There is so much misinformation during this very divisive time that we’re in and the public really needs to know the facts.”
“Some of the media that I deal with really kind of—I wouldn’t say distort things but certainly give opposing perspectives on what seems to be a pretty obvious fact,” he added. “If you listen to Fox News, with all due respect to the fact that they do have some good reporters, some of the things that they report there are outlandish, to be honest with you.”
Fauci first alluded to Dr. Atlas, who was added to the White House’s coronavirus task force following his many appearances on Fox News, when he told Stelter, “Most are working together. I think you know who the outlier is.” He then added, more explicitly, “You know my differences with Dr. Atlas, I’m always willing to sit down and talk with him and see if we could resolve those differences.”
Earlier in the day, NBC News reported that CDC Director Robert Redfield was overheard saying of Atlas, who has pushed a scientifically dubious “herd immunity” strategy, “Everything he says is false.”
