Dr. Anthony Fauci gave a straightforward answer when asked if he would stay in his position as White House chief medical adviser if Donald Trump once again becomes the president of the United States in 2024.

According to Fox News, Dr. Anthony Fauci laughed and said "no" when he responded to the question in an interview on Sunday.

"If you look at the history of what the response was during the administration, I think, you know, at best, you can say it wasn't optimal," Fauci said. "And I think just, history will speak for itself about that."

Dr. Fauci, 81, was asked by CNN host Jim Acosta: "If Trump were to return to the White House as president, and COVID is still a threat or there is some other public health emergency, would you have confidence in his ability - would you have confidence in his ability to deal with a pandemic of this nature?" And "Would you want to stay on in your post?"

With a laugh, Dr. Fauci replied: "Well, no to the second question. The first question, if you look at the history of what the [COVID-19] response was during the [Trump] administration, I think at best you could say it wasn't optimal."

Dr. Anthony Fauci has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, in addition to his White House position, per The New York Post.

CNN’s @acosta asks Dr. Anthony Fauci if he would return to the White House if Donald Trump was elected for a second term. Hear his response. pic.twitter.com/RM26OPZgYO

— CNN (@CNN) May 15, 2022

Trump is highly anticipated to start his campaign for president for the third time later this year for the 2024 US Election.

Trump-Fauci Relationship

From the beginning of the pandemic, when the White House task force's regular press briefings were regarded as must-see TV, the relationship between Fauci and Trump was a continual topic of speculation among the mainstream media.

The Hill reported that Fauci campaigned for masks and social isolation early on, repeatedly warning of the dangers brought by the COVID-19 virus. But Trump discounted the severity of the outbreak. As the pandemic progressed, conservatives lambasted Fauci for opposing public health efforts to stop COVID-19 from spreading.

By the time the 2020 presidential election got around, Trump was publicly considering firing Fauci if voters gave him another term.

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Fauci has defended President Joe Biden's statements and policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic since the start of the current administration. The country's top medical expert also defended Vice President Kamala Harris' pronouncement that the White House would "start from scratch" in the distribution of the vaccines.

Under the Biden administration, Dr. Fauci continued to be a top adviser during the COVID-19 pandemic. He stated in January 2021 that working with the new president was "liberating."

Is Fauci Retiring Soon?

Fauci announced in March that he had no plans to leave the government, adding that he wanted to remain in service until the COVID-19 pandemic was officially over in the US.

In the past, Trump called Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, who is also a member of the COVID-19 task force, "self-promoters."

In May 2021, Trump said in an interview with Newsmax that he "always got along with Dr. Fauci "pretty well." However, what the former president did was "the opposite" of what the medical expert advised.

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