Dr. Fauci Says He ‘Clearly Disagrees’ With Florida Judge Who Overturned Travel Mask Mandate
Dr. Anthony Fauci says that the courts should not be involved in COVID decisions and believes the CDC should be the supreme ruler of policy.
Most Americans seem to agree with Dr. Fauci, according to a new poll released Wednesday that showed the majority still concerned about the spread of COVID while traveling and preferred the mandates be reinstated.
The Justice Department plans to appeal the ruling by Florida Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle as long as the CDC rules the masks are still needed for airplanes and other public mass transit such as trains and buses.
This judge, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, earned an embarrassing "not qualified" rating by the ABA when she was a judicial nominee, based on her lack of experience.
When Trump nominated her, she had only been practicing law for 8 yrs + had never tried a case. https://t.co/jBF9H6T8Rl https://t.co/Hfxc9rlnqi
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) April 18, 2022
Dr. Fauci voiced his concerns about the precedent set by Judge Mizelle. “The CDC has the capability, through a large number of trained epidemiologists and scientists, to be able to make projections and make recommendations. Far more than a judge with no experience in public health,” Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, told CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa on CBS News.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says he "clearly" disagrees with the federal judge who ruled that the CDC cannot issue a national mask mandate.
"The principle of a court overruling a public health judgement by a qualified organization…is disturbing in the precedent it might send." pic.twitter.com/Q11EoM2FWy
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 21, 2022
More than 9 in 10 new infections in the current wave are from the BA.2 subvariant, the CDC estimated this week. Hospitalizations are also accelerating around the country, though far short of the record surge seen during the winter wave. Citing data from abroad and the Northeast, which has seen the most BA.2 cases so far, Dr. Fauci said the variant did not “appear to be associated with an increase in hospitalizations and severe disease.”
FIRST ON @CNN: Dr. Fauci's first public comments on the mask court decision
"We are concerned about that about the courts getting involved in things that are unequivocally a public health decision," he tells me. "This is a CDC issue, should not have been a court issue."
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) April 21, 2022
Dr Fauci said he had urged President Joe Biden to follow the CDC’s recommendations, and for now, the agency has continued to urge all travelers to wear masks. Fauci said he personally planned to don a highly-protective N95 mask when flying.