WASHINGTON, DC. (Mike Osborne) -- Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander is expressing support for Dr. Anthony Fauci after President Donald Trump berated the nation’s leading infectious disease expert.
The president attacked Dr. Fauci on Twitter Monday in response to comments the doctor made Sunday night on the TV news program 60 Minutes.
Dr. Fauci said he wasn’t surprised the president had contracted COVID-19. He also noted the Trump Administration was restricting his media appearances.
Trump fired back calling Fauci a “disaster” and that the doctor needed to make “better decisions.”
Just minutes later Senator Alexander took to social media to call Dr. Fauci “one of our country’s most distinguished public servants,” and concluded that Americans should pay “attention to his advice.”
Tennessee’s Senior Senator has had a complex relationship with President Trump. Alexander has been supportive of some Trump initiatives, but clashed with his fellow Republican on several policy issues.
Alexander berated the president for diverting military funding to border wall construction. He also accused the Trump Administration of “spreading false information” during a protracted battle with the leadership of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Senator Alexander has been especially scathing of the president’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Alexander panned Trump’s decision to part ways with the World Health Organization. He’s also pushed the president to set a better public health example by observing social distance protocols and wearing a mask.
Senator Alexander is retiring from the Senate at the end of the current session.
