TRUMP TRASHES FAUCI, MAKES FALSE COVID CLAIMS ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL

President Donald Trump claimed on a campaign call that people are tired of hearing about coronavirus, which has killed more than 215,000 Americans and trashed Dr. Anthony Fauci as a "disaster" who has been around for "500 years." 

Trump also baselessly claimed if Fauci was in charge more than 500,000 people would be dead in the US, implying that Americans should thank him for the “small” COVID-19 death toll of 220,000, Kaitlan Collins reported for CNN. 

"People are tired of COVID. I have these huge rallies," Trump said. "People are saying whatever. Just leave us alone. They're tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots ... Fauci is a nice guy. He's been here for 500 years." Trump’s campaign has been notorious for busing in rally participants and using paid actors as his rah-rah men. 

Trump is trailing in polling to Democratic rival Joe Biden in part due to his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. He recently returned to the campaign trail after being diagnosed with the virus himself and has shunned public health protocols for his political rallies. Trump added: "Fauci is a disaster. If I listened to him, we'd have 500,000 deaths," before later saying it would be 700,000 or 800,000. "If there's a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it, I couldn't care less." (CNN was given access to the call by a source.)