Dr Fauci to return to Fox News for first time since July after months of GOP bullying

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday

Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Dr Anthony Fauci is all set to return to Fox News for an interview after a prolonged absence on the network, according to reports.

The infectious diseases expert has appeared on only one Fox News programme since July with host Chris Wallace on 17 October this year.

It was first reported by the Mediate that Dr Fauci will appear for an interview with Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business show “Cavuto: Coast to Coast” at 1pm on Friday.

The interview will be re-aired on another Cavuto show at 4pm on Fox News.

Politico’s newsletter West Wing Playbook reported that several shows on the channel “including ones with news hosts like Bret Baier and Neil Cavuto” had been trying to invite him on the shows. It attributed the information to an official who was familiar with the bookings at Fox News.

It was reported that Dr Fauci has been turning them down.

Meanwhile, Fox News host, Tucker Carlson called Dr Fauci “a shorter version of Benito Mussolini” and also called him the “Patron Saint of Wuhan.”

Lara Gogan, Fox News guest commentator and streaming show host, also said that people compare Dr Fauci to the infamous Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele.

Politico noted that Dr Fauci’s absence from the channel is “not exactly a surprise given the channel’s coverage of the doctor.”

Cavuto credited the Covid1-9 vaccine for his survival after he was infected with the virus in October. He has also defended Dr Fauci against his critics and has said that “at his core, he’s a good man, a good doctor.”

National Institute of Health Director Francis Collins has appeared on Fox News shows to fill for Dr Fauci but he has announced his retirement. The White House has also sent surgeon general Vivek Murthy to appear on Fox News.

After the departure of Mr Collins by the end of this year, the White House said they will continue to send their communicators to Fox.

A White House official said that “since the beginning of this pandemic, Americans across the country and of every background have looked to Dr Fauci for honest and direct answers to some of the toughest questions our country currently faces. He has been an invaluable resource to the President, the Covid response team, and to the American people, which is why he blankets media almost every day of the week.”

Dr Fauci called out Fox News on Thursday for staying silent after Ms Logan compared him to an infamous Nazi doctor. He said the comparison was “preposterous and disgusting.”

He added: “It’s unconscionable what she said. She was being totally slanderous to me and as usual had no idea what she was talking about.”