Punch » 24 Jan 2025, 6:58 pm » wrote: ↑
Trump ends Fauci's security detail and says he'd feel no responsibility if harm befell him
President Donald Trump has ended the federal security detail for
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who advised him on the COVID-19 pandemic, Fauci is the latest in a string of former Trump aides-turned-critics to see their federal protection canceled despite ongoing threats to their lives. Speaking to reporters in North Carolina on Friday, Trump said he wouldn’t feel any responsibility if harm befell the former government officials. Fauci’s federal security detail was ended on Thursday. He has since hired private security.
When asked about Fauci and former national security adviser John Bolton, Trump said, “They all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security, too." Trump, a Republican, earlier this week
revoked protection details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook, as well as Bolton. All have
faced threats from Iran since they took hard-line stances on the Islamic Republic during Trump’s first administration and fell out with him in the years after he left office in 2021.
Fauci was a regular at Trump’s side early in
the COVID-19 outbreak but grew critical of Trump after the president tried to
undermine public health guidance. Fauci faced regular threats to his life and has received federal protection for years. Bolton, Hook and Pompeo had their security details repeatedly renewed by the Biden administration because of credible and ongoing threats from Iran. Fauci’s was also repeatedly renewed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, because of domestic threats.“You can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you worked for government,” Trump said.