The president appears to be jealous that Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good approval rating with respect to the coronavirus while he does not, insisting that he agrees 'with a lot of what he's said.'

• Jul 30, 2020

AceShowbiz - Donald Trump sees a competition with Dr. Anthony Fauci regarding their approval ratings. The president appears to be jealous that the immunologist has a higher approval rating than him as the number of Americans who have died of the coronavirus approached 150,000 on Tuesday, July 28.

During a White House coronavirus task force briefing, Trump told reporters, "It's interesting: he's got a very good approval rating. And I like that, it's good." Insisting that "I get along with him very well and I agree with a lot of what he's said," he noted, "Because remember: he's working for this administration. He's working with us."

"We could have gotten other people. We could have gotten somebody else," he continued. "It didn't have to be Dr. Fauci. He's working with our administration. And for the most part we've done what he and others -- and Dr. Birx and others -- have recommended."

Questioning why his approval rating isn't as high as Fauci's, Trump complained, "And he's got this high approval rating. So why don't I have a high approval rating with respect -- and the administration -- with respect to the virus? We should have it very high."

"So it sort of is curious," he added, "a man works for us, with us, very closely, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx also, very highly thought of -- and yet, they're highly thought of, but nobody likes me?" Blaming it on his own personality, the president claimed, "It can only be my personality, that's all."

This comes after Trump claimed that Fauci has misled the public, reposting a tweet that called the doctor a "fraud." Responding to the president's tweet, Fauci said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, "I don't even read them, so I don't really want to go there. I just will continue to do my job no matter what comes out."

"Because I think it's very important. We are in the middle of a crisis with regard to an epidemic, a pandemic. This is what I do. This is what I've been trained for my entire professional life and I'll continue to do it," he added, before stressing, "I have not been misleading the American public under any circumstances."