Dr Anthony Fauci denies 'misleading the American public' after Donald Trump's Twitter attack

Donald Trump’s feud with his top infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci has once again escalated as the pair traded public comments about how to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

The US president retweeted a flurry of messages throughout Monday evening and Tuesday morning, one of which claimed Dr Fauci had "misled the American public on many issues".

Dr Fauci pushed back firmly during an TV interview on Tuesday morning, telling ABC: "I have not been misleading the American public under any circumstances."

It was one of a number of comments Mr Trump had shared on Twitter that Dr Fauci contradicted during the interview.

Mr Trump had shared a video in which a doctor said that people did not need to wear face masks - footage that Twitter, Facebook and YouTube later took down because it contained disinformation.

Dr Fauci later said that Americans "should all be wearing masks outside". The position is in line with the Trump administration’s own guidance that advises people to wear a mask in public if they cannot socially distance.

Mr Trump had also shared a string of tweets talking up the abilities of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that the president has championed in the past, to treat Covid-19.

Dr Fauci said he trusted studies showing that the drug "is not effective on coronavirus disease".

At times during the interview Dr Fauci, who is of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), appeared uncomfortable being urged to comment on Mr Trump's tweets.

"I don't tweet. I don't even read them so I don't really want to go there,” he said at one point. At another point Dr Fauci said: “We’re in the middle of a crisis with regard to an epidemic, a pandemic. This is what I do, this is what I’ve been trained for my entire professional life, and I’ll continue to do it."

Such public clashes between the president and a senior figure in his administration are rare.

But at a press conference in the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump continued to push his pet theory that hydroxychloroquine can be used to treat Covid-19 patients.

"Many doctors think it's extremely successful," he said.

Mr Trump also said it was unfair that Dr Fauci was more popular than him. "Nobody likes me," he said.

Mr Trump’s tweets came after a New York Times report claimed the president had been frustrated by the coverage that Dr Fauci was getting for throwing out the opening pitch at a Washington Nationals baseball match.

The paper reported Mr Trump’s announcement that he would be throwing out a pitch at a New York Yankees match came before the Yankees had agreed to the appearance. Mr Trump later cancelled his involvement.