Politics

‘Of Course Not’: Fauci Says He Would Not Attend Trump Rally Over Coronavirus Fears

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 07: Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speak to reporters following a meeting of the coronavirus task force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. The president today removed the independent chairman of a committee tasked with overseeing the roll out of the $2 trillion coronavirus bailout package. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

William Davis Contributor
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Dr. Anthony Fauci expressed concern over President Donald Trump’s upcoming rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, saying he personally would not attend the rally.

“I’m in a high risk category. Personally, I would not. Of course not,” the 79-year-old Fauci told The Daily Beast Tuesday.

The Trump campaign has a rally scheduled for Saturday inside Tulsa’s 19,000-seat BOK Center, although Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that the campaign was considering a different venue. (RELATED: Laura Ingraham On Fauci’s Latest Warning: ‘The Medical Deep State Strikes Again’)

Fauci also said during the interview that he does not believe the U.S. will need to go back into lockdown, as coronavirus cases in some parts of the country continue to rise. (RELATED: FLASHBACK: Jan.21: Fauci Says Coronavirus ‘Not A Major Threat’ To U.S.)

Dr. Anthony Fauci (L), director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases speaks next to Response coordinator for White House Coronavirus Task Force Deborah Birx in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on April 29, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“When you start to see the inevitable exceptions that you might see when you try to pull back on the mitigation and open up… use public health measures to help you to get to your goal,” Fauci said. “Namely, if you get new infections, you put into place, the manpower, the system… the ability to identify, isolate and contact-trace so that you’re actually utilizing public health measures to help you to open up.”

Tulsa County reported 71 new coronavirus cases earlier in June, which was its highest number of new cases in a single day. The state of Oklahoma has reported a total of 8,645 coronavirus cases, and 363 deaths, according to a running tracker from The New York Times.