Former President Donald Trump said in an interview with Megyn Kelly that he doesn’t know who gave Dr. Anthony Fauci a Presidential Commendation at the end of his term in office.
Trump was pressed about the issue by Kelly, who questioned him about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“For years you’ve been saying that the reason you didn’t fire Anthony Fauci was because he’d been there for a long time, that you would’ve taken heat, that it would’ve created a firestorm, quoting your words,” she said.
“But I also said I didn’t listen to him too much,” Trump responded.
“I’m getting there,” Kelly said. “But then in May, you started saying, ‘Well, he’s a civil servant, so I couldn’t, technically.'”
“The truth is though, not only did you not fire Fauci, who is loathed by many, many millions of Republicans in particular, but also some Democrats, you made him a star,” she continued. “You made him a star. This is the criticism of you, that you made him the face of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.”
“You think so?” Trump asked.
“That he was out at every presser, that he was running herd for the administration on Covid, and that you actually gave him a Presidential Commendation before you left office,” Kelly said. “Wouldn’t you like a do-over on that?”
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“I don’t know who gave him the commendation,” Trump said. “I really don’t know who gave him the commendation. I wouldn’t have done it.”
“It’s a presidential commendation,” Kelly said. “One went out to Mark Milley, too.”
“Somebody probably handed him a commendation,” Trump said.
The official White House archive from the Trump administration states that on January 19, 2021, “President Donald J. Trump awarded Presidential Commendations to the below individuals in recognition of their exceptional efforts on Operation Warp Speed.”
Fauci and General Mark Milley were both on the list, along with dozens of others who worked on Operation Warp Speed.
A partial clip of the Trump-Kelly interview has circulated on X and gained a “community note.”
Trump, in an interview with Megyn Kelly, says he doesn't know who gave Fauci the presidential commendation pic.twitter.com/LRZnFXqMWO
— Joel Weingart (@JoelWeingart_) September 14, 2023
In the full interview segment on his handling of Covid, Trump went on to say that “Fauci was very important in the Biden administration,” and “much less important” in his administration, noting as an example that Fauci “didn’t want to stop China, he wanted to let everyone come into the country.”
Watch the full exchange below: