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President Donald Trump‘s trade adviser Peter Navarro, who the president recently tapped to help implement the Defense Production Act amid the coronavirus crisis, is publicly pushing back against the nation’s top infectious disease expert.
“Doctors disagree about things all the time,” Navarro, an economist, told CNN’s “New Day” Monday. “My qualifications in terms of looking at the science is that I’m a social scientist. I have a Ph.D., and I understand how to read statistical studies, whether it’s in medicine, the law, economics or whatever.”
The comments come after Axios first reported that on Saturday, Navarro, in the Situation Room, lashed out at Fauci after he questioned the trade adviser on the science behind his promotion of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.
“On Saturday, and if we didn’t have disagreement or debate in the Trump administration, this administration would not be as strong as it is,” Navarro told CNN, appearing to confirm the argument took place.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images, FILEEconomic Advisor Peter Navarro and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Aller…Read More“The issue wasn’t about me offering my medical opinion,” Navarro continued. “The question was whether we should take the 29 million doses in the FEMA storehouses and surge them into the zones, and it was unanimous in that task force meeting to do so. So, that’s the only question I posed.”
President Trump has put more stock in hydroxychloroquine than his top medical experts, having previously described the drug as possibly one of “the biggest game-changers in the history of medicine.”
Fauci, meanwhile, has cautioned against putting too much promise in any “anecdotal evidence” before clinical trials are complete, emphasizing social distancing instead.
If you think that stuff didn’t make a difference, think again. Just the fact that that fool Navarro was working on procurement and arguing with Fauci says it all.