Trump blasts health adviser: ‘Fauci has nothing to do with NFL Football’

President Trump pushed back on comments his top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, made about the risks of an NFL season on Friday, indicating he wants the season to go forward.

“Tony Fauci has nothing to do with NFL Football,” Trump tweeted. “They are planning a very safe and controlled opening. However, if they don’t stand for our National Anthem and our Great American Flag, I won’t be watching!!!”

Trump’s tweet was in reference to comments Fauci made to CNN on Thursday, when the doctor said it would be “very hard” for the NFL to have a season safely without having players in a “bubble,” which the league currently does not have plans for.

The tweet from Trump is some of his most explicit and public distancing from his top infectious disease official to date.

In April, Trump retweeted a post with the #firefauci hashtag, but the White House said then that the president did not plan to fire him.

Fauci has been more cautious than Trump in warning about a possible resurgence of the virus and the need to continue to take protective measures.

“Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” Fauci had told CNN on Thursday.

Trump, on the other hand, said Wednesday night on Fox News he thinks the virus will “fade away,” a view in stark contrast to what public health experts are saying as the country continues to report more than 20,000 new cases a day.

The NFL said it would have strong testing for its players but has not provided other details or outlined plans for playing in an isolated “bubble” like the NBA will when it restarts its season in July at Disney World in Florida.

The NFL did say in a statement to CNN that it is taking the concerns raised by Fauci seriously.

“Dr. Fauci has identified the important health and safety issues we and the NFL Players Association, together with our joint medical advisors, are addressing to mitigate the health risk to players, coaches and other essential personnel,” said NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills.