Donald Trump criticized after boasting he ‘didn’t do’ what Dr Anthony Fauci advised

‘I always say he’s a better pitcher of a baseball than he is at what he does because he was wrong so much’

Donald Trump has been criticized for admitting he "didn't do" what Dr Anthony Fauci advised in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Trump said on Monday that he ignored his Covid-19 taskforce adviser's recommendations on masks, travel bans and lockdowns.

Reaction from his Twitter critics seized on the comments as the reason why more than 500,000 Americans have died during the pandemic.

Mr Trump's comments come amid a long-running feud with Mr Fauci, who says he now feels "liberated" to speak freely about evidence and science under the Biden administration.

Mr Trump told "The Truth with Lisa Booth" that he personally liked Mr Fauci, who was a "great promoter" more than anything else. But that he's a better pitcher than an infectious disease expert, referencing the wayward opening pitch of the Major League Baseball season.

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“I thought rather than firing him, you know, I listened to him, but I didn't do what he said because, frankly, his record is not a good record,” Mr Trump said.

“And if I would've listened to them? First of all he said no masks and he didn't want to have China stopped from coming in. If we would have done that we would have had hundreds of thousands of more deaths in our country,” he added.

Mr Trump also referenced Covid-19 taskforce coordinator Dr Deborah Birx, saying both had been "so wrong" on Covid-19.

“And then they went to the other extreme, like the entire country should lock up. I didn't go for that. And you know, it just wasn't for me. I didn't go for that,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump went on to praise state governors that followed his own advice rather than the guidelines championed by Dr Fauci, including Florida's Ron de Santis, South Dakota's Kristi Noem and Texas' Greg Abbott.

"The ones that shut down are the ones that are doing the worst. You look at New York, you look at California. The ones that shut down are the ones, the states, that have done the worst, it's sort of amazing," Mr Trump said.

"They've ruined their economies, they've ruined their states and their numbers aren't better, in fact their numbers are worse than the ones who have been much more open.”