Anthony Fauci had to argue “strongly” with President Donald Trump to stop him from withdrawing socia- distancing guidelines early. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, appeared on CNN’s New Day Monday morning, a day after Trump publicly abandoned his hope of reopening the U.S. economy by Easter and confirmed he would keep federal guidelines on social distancing in place through the end of April. “We felt that if we prematurely pulled back, we would only form an acceleration or a rebound of something, which would have put you behind where you were before,” said Fauci. “And that’s the reason why we argued strongly with the president that he not withdraw those guidelines after 15 days but that he extend them—and he did listen.” Fauci confirmed Trump changed his mind after he saw models showing as many as 200,000 people could die. The doctor’s voice was noticeably croaky during his appearance—he insisted he was healthy, but admitted he was not “getting nearly enough sleep.”
