Dr. Anthony Fauci says President Trump is keeping an open mind on timeline for easing coronavirus restrictions
White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, joins Laura Ingraham on 'The Ingraham Angle.'
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Coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said on "The Ingraham Angle" that President Trump's Easter timeline to reboot the economy is "aspirational," saying the president and his team are on the same page and that everyone understands a timeline for the coronavirus outbreak needs to be "flexible."
"The president clearly listens. I mean, he has this aspirational goal of hoping that we might be able to do it by a certain date. We talked him about that. We say we need to be flexible. He realizes that and he accepts that," Fauci told host Laura Ingraham. "I mean, he doesn't want to give up his aspirational goal, but he's flexible enough to say, 'OK, let's look at it on a day by day basis,' we say, and we will give him data to inform that decision."
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Fauci stressed that the president has an "open mind."
"The more we learn about what's out there, particularly in areas of the country that don't have the big spikes like New York, and we talk about it, we talk about what that would do to inform our decision," Fauci said. "But he's been very flexible about it, even though it looks like he's made this absolute decision on something. He does have an open mind about it."
Trump on Tuesday evening emphasized his desire for the U.S. to reopen for business by Easter -- as his top economic adviser said Congress is "getting closer and closer" to passing an unprecedented fiscal stimulus package.
Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, responded to Ingraham's questions regarding studies that show men are more susceptible to the cornavirs than women, in particular obese men with underlying problems.
"It's clear that men are are more likely to have serious health implications because it is more likely to get the virus," Ingraham said. "It looks like including with hypertension, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, all factoring in and the co-morbidity rate once people are actually admitted into the into the hospital, then into the ICU. Any any idea of how and why that's happening?"
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"We do not know. I mean, we have to be humble and say we're really not sure. It's a little bit puzzling. This may be some mitigating factors with men, but they have a greater incidence of some underlying conditions, perhaps with high blood pressure, perhaps heart disease, perhaps with smoking and lung disease," Fauci said. "We don't know. We don't really know precisely. But they're also the kids that they may have some underlying factors that are a bit more than in women."
Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report.