Trump Let Fauci Run the Government, DeSantis Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, Ron DeSantis said former President Trump elevated Dr. Anthony Fauci to international celebrity status. The Florida governor stated that Trump allowed Fauci to “run the government” during his last year in office.

“He didn’t have control over his own government,” DeSantis said about former President Trump. “He didn’t have control over Fauci. Fauci ran the government his last year in office. Trump should have fired him.”

FAUCI’S OVERREACH

DeSantis told Fox News’ Bret Baier that Trump’s administration, including Fauci and the COVID task force, demanded that Florida close down the state.

“He elevated Fauci and he made Fauci an international celebrity,” DeSantis said. “And here’s the thing, I fought back against it but the reality is, Fauci’s policies were adopted in a lot of the blue states.”

While DeSantis has been vocal in the past about Fauci’s overreach, he suggested that Trump was directly responsible for allowing millions of kids to be locked out of schools and small businesses to shutter permanently across the country.

A POLITICAL THREAT

For years, Trump touted Florida as a successful state and praised DeSantis as one of the country’s greatest governors. But DeSantis says Trump changed course as soon as he became threatened politically.

“He always said that for years and years,” DeSantis stated. “Until about three days before the midterm election, then he started to attack me and I think it’s because he saw that we were going to win a big victory and he viewed me as a political threat. So now he has flip-flopped on all of that and is trying to say I did a bad job.”

A CATASTROPHIC MISTAKE

When Baier asked whether the U.S. should have locked down at all, DeSantis said although there was uncertainty at the beginning, the lockdowns were a mistake and Trump should have given Fauci the boot.

“I fought his administration to keep our state open to kids in school,” DeSantis explained. “Fauci, the task force, all those people. They were sending me missives.”

The governor said up until Trump left office in January 2021, his COVID task force continued to send communications directing Florida to shut down.

“It was a catastrophic mistake,” DeSantis said. “Back at that time there was a lot of uncertainty, I get it. But knowing what we know now, that was a catastrophic mistake and we can never let that happen to our country again.”

DeSantis said he believes voters are more interested in “substance” and less concerned about the political games. The first debate on August 23 will allow candidates to show Americans what they can bring to the table.