(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) President Joe Biden repeatedly joked he would replace Vice President Kamala Harris with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former embattled head of the White House COVID-19 response team.
Biden made the jokes at the height of the coronavirus pandemic particularly at meetings, during which Fauci, then the chief medical advisor to the president, would sit in Harris’s chair, a new tell-all book about Biden reported.
“When the president assembled his COVID team, he would jokingly direct Anthony Fauci to sit in the vice president’s chair,” wrote Franklin Foer in his new book The Last Politician. Foer said that Fauci enjoyed “unparalleled access to the tight inner circle of advisers who have surrounded Biden for decades.”
As detailed by Foer, Fauci “struggled to contain his exuberance” about working for Biden, shortly after former President Donald Trump left the White House. Biden, unlike Trump, would listen to him, reported the New York Post on Tuesday.
“When Fauci made his way to the podium in the White House briefing room for the first time after the [Biden] inauguration, he felt a surge of traumatic memories wash over him,” Foer wrote, according to a snippet first reported by the Post. “For the first time in years, he was no longer in the awkward position of having to correct the administration he served.”
During most of the pandemic, Trump disagreed with Fauci’s advice, thinking it was too extreme. However, when Biden took office, Fauci found a supportive ally who sought his guidance.
Although Biden’s comments about replacing his vice president were made in jest, some of the president’s top donors have been calling for her removal due to her historically low approval ratings and her inability to retain a long-term staff.
Attorney John Morgan, a prominent Democrat donor, told Politico that many donors want her gone. “When I talk to people, everyone recognizes the problem, but there seems to be no solution,” he said, referring to Harris. “She’s here to stay. If you try to remove her, you’ll face strong opposition from her supporters.”
“When I talk to ’em, when I’m around people, everybody knows the problem, and everybody knows there’s no solution to the problem,” he claimed in statements to Politico, refering to Harris. “She’s not going anywhere. If you try to move her out, you’re gonna have the K Hive come at you with everything they have.”
Foer’s allegations, outlined in his upcoming book set to release on Sept. 5, coincide with Fauci’s recent controversial recommendation of mask mandates, despite acknowledging their limitations.
Fauci, who retired in December 2022, has become a focal point in the 2024 presidential election, with GOP candidate for president, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, criticizing Trump for not dismissing the embattled medical chief.
