ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday that his administration has terminated the government-sponsored security detail for controversial former White House COVID-19 czar Dr. Anthony Fauci, explaining that such details cannot continue for every ex-official indefinitely and that he is more than capable of paying for his own private security.
The New York Post reports that Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has had government protection since 2020, first by U.S. Marshalls, then a private detail paid for by taxpayers, which was one of several protection arrangements revoked last week by the new administration.
“I think when you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off, and you know, you can’t have them forever,” Trump said on Friday at a press briefing. “We took some off other people too.”
“They can hire their own security […] I can give them some good numbers of very good security people,” the president continued. “Fauci made a lot of money. They all did.” He denied that he would feel responsible if harm befell Fauci or another alum of the past two administrations after the move.
When asked about the situation during the new White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s first briefing, including pro-Trump Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) disapproval of several of the revocations, Leavitt reiterated that the president has “made it very clear that he does not believe American taxpayers should fund security details for individuals who have served in the government for the rest of their lives.”
“And there’s nothing stopping these individuals that you mentioned from obtaining private security,” she said. “That’s where the president stands on it. I have no updates on that.”
Once a relatively obscure health bureaucrat, Fauci became a household name during the 2020 COVID outbreak, lionized in the media but soon developing a record of deep credibility issues.
In February 2020, Fauci said there was “absolutely no reason whatsoever to wear a mask” in the United States; by July, he was arguing that Americans wear not only masks, but goggles and face shields (overwhelming evidence has since established that COVID masking was ineffective).
Critics also faulted Fauci for suggesting that handshaking should be abolished yet sexual activity with strangers remains alright if “you’re willing to take a risk,” and championing COVID shot mandates despite being unwilling or unable to give a “firm answer” on why the injections are necessary for those with immunity from prior infection. In January 2024, he admitted under oath that the pervasive six-foot “social distancing” rule was “likely not based on any data” and “just sort of appeared.”
But arguably the biggest mark on Fauci’s record was his approval of federal funding to explore gain-of-function (GOF) research, which entails intentionally strengthening viruses to study their effects, at several sites, including China’s controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where evidence indicates COVID-19 may have originally leaked from. Leaked emails have revealed that Fauci and other top researchers were aware of the lab-leak possibility as early as February 2020, but attempted to discredit it as they feared publicly acknowledging the theory would impair “science and international harmony.”