Trump trashes Fauci and makes baseless coronavirus claims in campaign call

Fauci has been the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and is a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. At almost the same time Trump was fuming on the phone, Fauci was being awarded the National Academy of Medicine's first-ever Presidential Citation for Exemplary Leadership during a virtual ceremony. Fauci said that he was "speechless" while receiving the recognition.

"We have a lot of challenges ahead of us and I can't help thinking that we're really going through a time that's disturbingly anti-science in certain segments of our society," Fauci said during the virtual event.

Trump openly criticized Fauci as his campaign is currently airing a television ad featuring the doctor that implies Fauci endorsed Trump's handling of the pandemic.

Fauci has disputed the ad, saying his words were taken out of context, and asked the campaign to take it down. But the ad was widely seen as an acknowledgment by the President's campaign staff that Fauci has credibility with voters who have rejected Trump's response.

The President is trailing in polling to Democratic rival Joe Biden in part due to his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump recently returned to the campaign trail after being diagnosed with the virus himself and has shunned public health protocols for his political rallies. On the call, the President again mocked Biden's social distancing measures.

As he barnstorms electoral battlegrounds, Trump has been casting about for a closing message that resonates with voters addled by the virus and wary of his response. Attempts by his advisers to convince Trump to adopt a more serious tone about the pandemic have been halting. At a rally in Nevada on Sunday, Trump attempted to attack Biden by saying his rival would "listen to the scientists" if elected president.

By contrast, Trump has stopped attending meetings of his coronavirus task force, which has waned dramatically in influence. Instead the President has relied on the counsel of Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist whose views on mask wearing and other mitigation practices are at odds with nearly every scientific opinion.

The dynamic has caused tensions among the government's health officials, including with Fauci, whose warnings about the virus Trump has bristled at for months.

"Fauci is a disaster. If I listened to him, we'd have 500,000 deaths," he said on the campaign call on Monday, before later saying it would be 700,000 or 800,000.

"If there's a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it, I couldn't care less," Trump said. CNN was given access to the call by a source.

Trump's attempt to shore up his campaign staff 15 days before Election Day came amid widespread worries among Republicans that his inability to hone a final message will have dire effects not only for his own race but for control of the US Senate.

Even as his anger was evident on the call, Trump sought to project optimism.

"This is the single best I have ever been in any campaign," Trump said regarding his reelection chances. "Today is the best single day that I've felt on either campaign."

"We are going to win," he said "I wouldn't have said that three weeks ago."

After stories emerged about early campaign finger-pointing ahead of a potential loss, Trump insisted he was satisfied with the work his team is doing -- including his chief of staff Mark Meadows, who has been blamed internally for badly mismanaging Trump's Covid diagnosis and subsequent hospitalization.

"I love Mark Meadows. It took me two years to get him out of Congress. Mark Meadows is doing a good job. I'm not dismissing him."