Mulvaney criticizes Fauci for lack of candor in Oval Office

Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney criticized Anthony Fauci for a lack of candor in the Oval Office about COVID-19 guidelines.

Mulvaney said: News Nation Blake Berman asked “The Hill” if he had ever heard Fauci say that the social distancing guidelines had “no scientific basis” throughout his time in the White House, adding that he had never heard the chief medical adviser say so and that it “infuriated” him to say that some of the guidelines had “no scientific basis.”

“We haven’t seen that level of candor in the Oval Office. Four years after this incident, he’s been more honest with members of Congress than he is with the president of the United States, and that’s not right,” Mulvaney said Monday.

“Your job is not to go in and make a decision. Your job is to go in and provide the information the president needs to make a decision. I’ve never seen that happen,” he added.

Fauci has served as the White House’s chief medical adviser during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been criticized by Republicans for his role in the administration’s response.

Fauci was grilled at a House committee hearing on Monday about the administration’s COVID-19 response, particularly regarding the 6-foot social distancing guideline and mask mandates.

Fauci previously drew criticism from Republican lawmakers when he said in a private interview with lawmakers that the six-foot social distancing guideline “kind of came out of the blue.”

“It’s actually [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]”The responsibility for those guidelines for schools rests with the CDC, not me,” Fauci said of the remarks during the hearing.

“That has very little to do with me, because I didn’t make that recommendation. And when I say there’s no science behind it, I mean there were no clinical trials to prove it. It’s just one of those things that gets a little skewed,” he continued.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.

NewsNation’s The Hill show airs Monday through Friday at 6pm ET.