Fauci says he 'pushed back' against Trump in COVID response

Chief White House Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he "pushed back" against former President Donald Trump when responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"I had to do something that was very uncomfortable – to publicly disagree with and contradict the president of the United States," Fauci said Tuesday during a STAT Summit on healthcare.

Fauci, the 81-year-old head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he contradicted the president to preserve his "own scientific and personal integrity" and fulfill his obligation to the American public. 

Fauci clashed with Trump numerous times throughout the COVID pandemic.

"That triggered such a pushback on the part of the extremists that I became public enemy No. 1," Fauci said. "I didn’t decide and wake up one day, 'I think I’m going to be public enemy No. 1.' But I had a choice.

"I could either go with the flow of misinformation or push back. I pushed back, and now I’m in the position I’m in where I have to have federal agents guarding me because people want to kill me."

Fauci is planning on stepping down from the federal government by the end of this year as Republicans have already pledged to investigate him after the midterm elections if they seize the majority.