#Trump rips Navarro’s critique on Dr. Fauci: ‘He shouldn’t be doing that’

The White House on Wednesday distanced itself from an incendiary op-ed by Trade Representative Peter Navarro trashing Dr. Anthony Fauci — with President Trump saying Navarro “shouldn’t be doing that.”

The White House said that it had not approved Navarro’s article, which called Fauci “wrong” on just about everything regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Peter Navarro op-ed didn’t go through normal White House clearance processes and is the opinion of Peter alone. @realDonaldTrump values the expertise of the medical professionals advising his Administration,” tweeted White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah.

Trump on Wednesday said he disagreed with Navarro’s statements, and that he had a good working relationship with Fauci, 79, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984.

“We’re all on the same team. Including Dr. Fauci,” he said as he left the White House for a trip to Georgia.

Asked if Navarro had “gone rogue,” Trump replied: “Well he made a statement representing himself. He shouldn’t be doing that. No, I have a very good relationship with Anthony.”

Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who told Fauci he was unaware of the talking points during a sitdown this week, reportedly called Navarro on the carpet after the column ran.

Fauci, meanwhile, fired back in an interview published Wednesday in The Atlantic.

“I can’t explain Peter Navarro,” he added about the trade rep. “He’s in a world by himself.”

Fauci also said he wasn’t going to quit because of criticism from the White House — which he called “bizarre” and “nonsense.”

He was reacting to a series of talking points released by an unnamed White House official to reporters over the weekend that listed times he made statements that later turned out to be inaccurate.

“I stand by everything I said. Contextually, at the time I said it, it was absolutely true … [The White House document] is totally wrong. It’s nonsense. It’s completely wrong. The whole thing is wrong. The whole thing is incorrect,” he said, adding that the move backfired because it generated criticism of the administration.

“Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that,” Fauci told The Atlantic. “When the staff lets out something like that and the entire scientific and press community push back on it, it ultimately hurts the president.”

He also appeared dismayed that they came at a time when coronavirus cases are spiking across much of the US, the magazine reported.

The interview was published as more than 3.4 million Americans have been infected by the coronavirus pandemic and nearly 136,000 had died, according to the CDC.

And Fauci also said it was a mystery to him why the White House would release the document.

“I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that. I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because it’s only reflecting negatively on them,” he added.

Asked his reaction to the White House statement and Navarro’s op-ed, he sounded a philosophical note.

“Well, that is a bit bizarre. I sit here and just shrug my shoulders and say, ‘Well, you know, that’s life in the fast lane,’ ” he said, while adding that he had no intention of resigning.

“I think the problem is too important for me to get into those kinds of thoughts and discussions. I just want to do my job. I’m really good at it. I think I can contribute. And I’m going to keep doing it,” he said.

And he said that even though he rarely speaks one-on-one with Trump in recent weeks, the president still gets his input from others.

“When we were having frequent press briefings, I had the opportunity to have a personal one-on-one to talk to the president. I haven’t done that in a while,” he acknowledged.

“But a day does not go by that I am not in contact with Debbie Birx [the White House coronavirus-response coordinator], with Bob Redfield [the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], or Steve Hahn [the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration] and others.

“My input to the president goes through the vice president. But clearly, the vice president — literally every day — is listening to what we have to say, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.