Dr. Anthony Fauci says he won’t walk away from ‘this outbreak no matter who’s the president’

Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNBC on Monday evening he’s prepared to stay on the job fighting the coronavirus whether President Donald Trump wins reelection or Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins.

“I’m not gonna walk away from this outbreak, no matter who’s the president,” the White House coronavirus taskforce member said in an interview on “The News with Shepard Smith,” as Covid-19 cases are rising to levels the U.S. has not seen in nearly two months and climbing in more than 40 states over the past week.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, doubled down on his commitment to helping Americans combat the coronavirus pandemic. His comments come as the country averages about 50,000 new cases per day. Fauci told Smith, “We’re in a bad place now, we’ve got to turn this around.”

Fauci also underscored that his role in fighting the pandemic is not political. The country’s top infectious disease expert said the Trump campaign should take down the political advertisement that featured him, saying he did not appreciate being “put in a political context.” Fauci reiterated to Smith that he did not consent to being featured in the Trump team’s new ad.

Smith asked Fauci for clarification when it came to science-based restrictions and shutting the country down. While noting that “science-based restrictions make sense,” Fauci emphasized that those restrictions do not mean keeping people away from their livelihoods.

“We’ve got to convince Americans that public health measures do not mean shutting the country down,” said Fauci. “It’s actually an avenue to keeping the country open.”

Fauci added that Americans can blunt the pandemic’s resurgence in five ways that won’t shut their lives down, including wearing a mask consistently and correctly, washing hands, avoiding crowds, maintaining social distance at six-feet apart, and opting for outdoor spaces over indoor spaces.