Trump advisor Peter Navarro went on a wild rant on Fox News, calling Fauci the 'father' of the coronavirus

Sinéad Baker
16 hours ago

Peter Navarro at a coronavirus briefing during the Trump presidency.

 Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Ex-trade advisor Peter Navarro spread baseless claims about the coronavirus on Fox News on Tuesday.

He called Dr. Anthony Fauci the virus' "father" in response to one of Fauci's vaccine remarks.

He also said former President Donald Trump should get more credit for the vaccine.

The former White House trade advisor Peter Navarro delivered a wild rant on Fox News in which he called Dr. Anthony Fauci the "father" of the coronavirus.

Navarro, who served in President Donald Trump's White House, was asked by the Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy on Tuesday night for his thoughts on Fauci's saying recently that the decision to start trying to make a coronavirus vaccine in January 2020 "may have been the best decision that I've ever made."

Navarro responded: "Fauci is a sociopath and a liar. He had nothing to do with the vaccine. The father of the vaccine is Donald J. Trump."

"What is Fauci the father of?" he continued. "Fauci is the father of the actual virus."

He then repeated an unproven theory that the coronavirus came from a lab in Wuhan, China, and went on to link Fauci to the lab, claims that Campos-Duffy did not challenge on the air.

Trump has repeatedly complained that he isn't getting credit for administration's role in vaccine creation and distribution.

President Joe Biden's White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, has repeatedly refused to give Trump credit for the vaccine development and rollout that took place during his presidency, instead calling it a "Herculean incredible effort by science and by medical experts."

Trump said earlier this month that he had ignored advice from Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about how to handle the pandemic.
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