At seventy-nine, Fauci had the reassuring bedside manner and scientific credibility that Trump did not. He was a legend in medical circles, having served as the federal government’s top infectious disease specialist under seven presidents going back to Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, when he was at the forefront of the fight against AIDS. Back then, Fauci was initially the subject of enormous anger by the gay community that felt he was not doing enough, but over time he became one of their leading allies in the struggle to defeat the scourge. He was also a prime architect of George W. Bush’s
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