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Trump retweets #firefauci tweet, raising speculation of a frayed relationship
President Trump sparked speculation about his relationship with the country's top disease expert Sunday night after he retweeted a post that called for the doctor's job.
Trump used statements from Dr. Anthony Fauci in February in an effort to prove that a recent New York Times report that said he was slow to act on the coronavirus outbreak was "fake news."
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was asked about the report on CNN and admitted that earlier action could have saved more lives. The Times' report said Trump played down the seriousness of the virus throughout January.
DeAnna Lorraine, a former Republican congressional candidate, called out Fauci in her own tweet and said he told people in late February that "there was nothing to worry about and it posed no threat to the US public at large. Time to #FireFauci."
Trump seized on Lorraine’s tweet as evidence of “fake news,” from the Times. Trump implied that if there were widespread concerns about the virus in the White House in January, surely Fauci would have known in late February. Click here for more on our top story.
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China blocks research on coronavirus outbreak, deleted posts show
Two websites for leading universities in China seem to have published and then deleted academic research about the origins of the coronavirus, according to a report.
The posts on the websites of Fudan University and the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) were erased from online caches -- in a possible bid to control the narrative surrounding the pandemic, The Guardian reported.
The Wuhan university appeared to have published and then deleted posts about academic research that China’s ministry of science and technology needed to approve before publication. Click here for more.
Other related developments:
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- FBI exposes coronavirus scam after 39M masks promised from overseas fail to reach California hospitals
- China was 'not truthful' about initial coronavirus outbreak, ex-FDA boss Gottlieb says
Tornadoes raging across South kill at least 6 in Mississippi, damage hundreds of buildings in Louisiana
Powerful storms raged across the Deep South on Easter Sunday, killing at least six people in Mississippi and damaging hundreds of buildings in Louisiana.
The storms killed one person in Mississippi's Walthall County, two in Lawrence County and three in Jefferson Davis County, Emergency Management Agency director Greg Michel said.
National Weather Service officials said strong winds were sweeping through other parts of Mississippi and a tornado appeared near the Alabama state line.
The weather service reported multiple tornadoes and damaging winds over parts of Louisiana. Utility companies reported thousands of power outages. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries. Click here for more.
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Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! Stay safe, stay healthy and look out for one another -- we will get through this coronavirus crisis together. We'll see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday morning.