As the most recent former US official to have their protection revoked since Trump took office this week, US President Donald Trump stated on Friday that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a former senior health official who has been threatened since spearheading the nation’s response to COVID-19, should hire his own security, reports Breaking News.
Fauci, a senior infectious disease official whose efforts to combat the epidemic were praised by many public health specialists despite being demonised by Trump and many other Republicans, had his government security protection revoked, according to sources familiar with the matter.
For the second time since taking office on Monday, Trump terminated government protection for at least three additional former top officials from his first administration, reports Breaking News.
When asked if he had removed Fauci’s protection, Trump responded that working for the government “at some point your security detail comes off, and you know, you can’t have them forever.”
“We took some off other people too, but you can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government,” he said at a press briefing in North Carolina, reports Breaking News.
CNN, which first reported Trump’s decision, said Fauci’s security had been given by the National Institutes of Health, where he commanded the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases throughout the epidemic until retiring in 2022.
According to the sources, Trump ally and billionaire Elon Musk and others will pay for a private security detail for Fauci, who is still the object of their ire years after the pandemic ended. Before he left office, former President Joe Biden granted a preemptive pardon to Fauci and others, stating that he was concerned about politically driven charges, reports Breaking News.
There have also been particular security risks for other politicians whose government protection was revoked this week.
Trump claimed on Tuesday that he had terminated security for John Bolton, his former national security advisor who became a vociferous Trump critic and was the focus of an alleged Iranian conspiracy.
Additionally, Trump removed protection for former Iran ambassador Brian Hook and former top diplomat Mike Pompeo, reports Breaking News.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
