Hayes noted that Troye “worked on the task force that you were part of, there’s pictures of her in the West wing with you, in the Oval Office,” and that she is now “basically saying I was so despondent I left, and I’m cutting an ad saying that the president basically didn’t listen to us, he didn’t care about the coronavirus, he only cared about his reelection.”

“And I know you can’t get into politics, so my question to you is this,” Hayes said. “It’s dispiriting to hear this woman’s testimony. There are people in a lot of anxiety right now trying to homeschool their kids, worried about elderly and immunocompromised folks they know. What can you do to reassure people who hear this and think that the person leading the response, the president of the United States, doesn’t care?”

“You know, Chris, you’re right, I really can’t comment on that,” Fauci said, but added that “I interacted with Olivia, I liked her, she was a good person, she was important to the team as a staff person to the Coronavirus task force.”

“But I don’t know what to make about what just has come out recently. It would be very difficult for me to comment on that,” Dr. Fauci said.