Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump’s last conversation with Anthony Fauci revealed in new memoir: ‘That f****r Biden’

Then-president Donald Trump told Anthony Fauci that he was set to beat Joe Biden in 2020 in a “f****** landslide.”

Gustaf Kilander
Washington DC
Tuesday 18 June 2024 12:06 EDT
Comments
Related video: Biden says Trump would ‘appoint two more flying flags upside down’

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donald Trump called Joe Biden “that f*****” in his final conversation with Anthony Fauci and said he would destroy his Democratic rival in the 2020 election, the famed Covid-response doctor revealed.

“I am going to win this election by a f****** landslide,” then-president Donald Trump told Fauci, according to an excerpt from Fauci’s upcoming memoir On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service. “Just wait and see. I always did things my way. And I always win, no matter what all these other f****** people think. And that f***** Biden. He is so f****** stupid. I am going to kick his f****** a** in this election.”

The call, which was deatailed by The Daily Beast, happened on November 1, 2020, days before the election. Biden would, of course, beat Trump in 2020 - but the two are set for a rematch in November. Fauci served as the top government advisor on the Covid-19 pandemic under Trump and as the chief medical advisor to Biden until he retired in 2022.

Anthony Fauci (left) and Donald Trump (right) stand together at a COVID-19 briefing at the White House. Fauci writes in a new book that his final conversation with Trump included the then-president calling Joe Biden “that f*****”
Anthony Fauci (left) and Donald Trump (right) stand together at a COVID-19 briefing at the White House. Fauci writes in a new book that his final conversation with Trump included the then-president calling Joe Biden “that f*****” (Getty Images)

The doctor writes that the 2020 call came at 9.30am while he was at home and became his last conversation with Trump.

Trump was upset with Fauci for telling The Washington Post hat the US was still “in for a whole lot of hurt” from the pandemic.

“Tony, I really like you, and you know that, but what the f*** are you doing? You really need to be positive. You constantly drop bombs on me,” Trump said. “Everybody wants me to fire you.

“But I am not going to fire you, you have too illustrious a career, but you have to be positive. The country cannot stay locked down.”

Trump went on: “You have to give them hope… I like you, but so many people—not only in the White House, but throughout the country—hate you because of what you are doing.”

Writing about the fear spreading through the country in the initial days of the pandemic, Fauci describes what it was like to face the president’s rage for the first time.

“On the evening of June 3 [2020], my cell phone rang, and the caller—the president—started screaming at me,” he writes.

Biden speaks during a meeting with Fauci in 2021. Fauci revealed that Trump once said he would win in 2020 and beat Biden just days before the election.
Biden speaks during a meeting with Fauci in 2021. Fauci revealed that Trump once said he would win in 2020 and beat Biden just days before the election. (Getty Images)

Trump was furious that Fauci had told The Post that Covid-19 immunity usually lasts between six months and a year, meaning that when the vaccine finally came, booster shots would be required.

Fauci notes in the book that it’s common practice for viruses such as the flu, adding his statement was “wrongly reported on Twitter and in some media outlets as the Covid vaccine protecting people only for a very short time.”

The former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director writes that it was “quite a phone call.”

“The president was irate, saying that I could not keep doing this to him. He said he loved me, but the country was in trouble, and I was making it worse,” Fauci writes.

Fauci notes in the memoir that Trump went on to lambast him, arguing that “the stock market went up only six hundred points in response to the positive phase one vaccine news and it should have gone up a thousand points and so I cost the country ‘one trillion f****** dollars.’”

The physician went on to conclude that while he has “a pretty thick skin ... getting yelled at by the president of the United States, no matter how much he tells you that he loves you, is not fun.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in