Fauci said he used 'poor choice of words' in CNN interview on coronavirus response

Dr. Tony Facui, a key member of the White House's coronavirus task force, on Monday walked back comments he made this past weekend interpreted by some to say that President Trump could have done more to save lives from perishing due to the coronavirus.

"That was the wrong choice of words," Fauci said during a task force briefing at the White House. "When people discuss, not necessarily in front of the president, when people discuss, they say, 'Well, you know, this is going to happen, maybe a harmful effect on this or on that.' So it was a poor choice of words. There wasn't anybody saying 'no you shouldn't do that.' " 

The White House on Monday issued a statement saying there was no plan to fire Fauci. 

Fauci's future was under speculation after Trump on Sunday evening fired off a series of tweets and a retweet following an interview Fauci gave CNN including one on Sunday morning. 

In the morning interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Fauci was asked if earlier implementation of “stay at home” policies would have saved lives.

He replied, “It’s very difficult to go back and say that ... .Obviously, no one is going to deny that. But what goes into those kinds of decisions is complicated.”

Trump later tweeted: “Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up.”

His words were a response to a tweet critical of Dr. Fauci’s interview that was posted by former Republican congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine. 

Lorraine tweeted "Time to #FireFauci."

Fauci said Monday that the president also immediately took his advice and that of other medical advisers on when to shut down foreign air travel from continental Europe, and later, the United Kingdom.

He said the president also immediately took his recommendation to engage in strong "mitigation," or "social distancing" to shut down the U.S. economy to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"The first and only time that I went in and said 'We should do mitigation strongly,' the response was, 'Yes, we'll do it,'" Fauci said, saying that he didn't require multiple visits to Trump's office to make his case.

As the initial shutdown was expiring, Fauci said the second time he went to visit the president was with colleague Dr. Deborah Birx, who is Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the task force, to discuss shutting down the country for an additional time period.

"'Fifteen days are not enough, we need to go 30 days,'" Fauci said they told the president. "Obviously there will people who had a problem with that because of the potential secondary effects. Nonetheless, at that time, the president went with the health recommendations, and we extend it another 30 days. So I can only tell you what I know, and what my recommendations were."

Fauci on Monday at the White House said that Tapper's question was a "hypothetical" and not a reflection of any pushback from the president against the doctor's medical recommendations.

Fauci was also asked by a reporter whether his statement at the press briefing was voluntary or not.

"Everything I do is voluntarily, please," Fauci said in response. "Don't even imply that."