Trump rebukes Navarro over op-ed ripping Fauci: ‘He shouldn’t be doing that’

President Trump on Wednesday rebuked trade adviser Peter Navarro for writing an op-ed undermining the government’s top infectious diseases expert, Anthony Fauci, for his comments on the coronavirus pandemic.

“He made a statement representing himself,” Trump said of Navarro while speaking to reporters as he departed the White House for Georgia. “He shouldn’t be doing that. No, I have a very good relationship with Anthony.”

“We’re all on the same team. We want to get rid of this mess that China sent us,” Trump added. “So everybody’s working on the same line and we’re doing very well.”

Navarro penned an op-ed in USA Today late Tuesday that called into question Fauci’s expertise on the pandemic, accusing him of being wrong about “everything” he’s interacted with him about.

The public criticism was the most direct attack on Fauci’s credibility to date amid a sustained barrage of White House officials questioning the doctor’s expertise.

The White House distanced itself from the opinion piece Wednesday morning, saying it did not go through the normal approval process and did not represent the opinion of the administration.

Navarro cited Fauci’s past comments on the use of masks, the need for Americans to alter their every day lives and the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.

“Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on,” Navarro wrote.

Fauci’s guidance on masks and for how Americans needed to change their daily habits shifted as experts learned more about the virus and the level of asymptomatic transmission. The doctor has been skeptical about the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment, something Trump and Navarro have pushed despite a Food and Drug Administration warning of dangerous side effects.