President Trump called out Anthony Fauci Saturday in a comment retweeting a video of the NIAID director explaining why there are surging coronavirus cases in the U.S.
Driving the news: In the video of Friday's testimony, Fauci explained that while European countries shut 95% of their economies, the U.S. "functionally shut down only a bout 50%." Trump responded, "Wrong! We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000.
Reality check: The recent rise in COVID-19 cases was not just down to increased testing because the number of new infections has risen faster than the number of completed tests, Axios' Orion Rummler notes.
The big picture: During his testimony, Fauci explained that the increase could be attributed to several factors, "one of which was that in the attempt to reopen, that in some situations, states did not abide strictly by the guidelines that the task force and the White House had put out."
- "In other states that did abide by the guidlines, "the people that were in the state actually were congregating in crowds and not wearing masks," Fauci added.
Of note: Fauci has been at odds with Trump and members of his administration in recent weeks over the handling of the pandemic.
- Trump questioned at a briefing on Tuesday why Fauci has a much higher approval rating than him, noting the NIAID director is "working for this administration."
Go deeper: Coronavirus testing still can't keep up with demand
