#Dr. Fauci says he ‘was not invited’ to Trump’s coronavirus briefing

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci was not invited to President Trump’s rebooted coronavirus task force briefing on Tuesday evening, the renowned infectious disease expert told CNN.

“I was not invited, up to this point,” Fauci told host Jake Tapper in a live interview less than an hour before Trump was slated to address reporters in the White House briefing room at 5 p.m.

“I’m assuming that I’m not going to be there because it’s going to be just a short while and I’m still here at the NIH so I’m assuming I’m not going to be there,” he continued.

The Brooklyn-born long-time director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has been repeatedly attacked by the Trump administration for sounding the alarm on the nation’s response.

The president himself called Fauci an “alarmist” during an interview with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”

Fauci, who has described the attacks against him as “bizarre,” pushed back on that criticism on Monday, saying he was more of a “realist.”

Trump this week announced he was bringing back the nightly briefings he held at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April which were abruptly halted after he raised the possibility of people injecting disinfectants.