President Donald Trump tried to downplay the tension between his White House staff and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “We’re all on the same team, including Dr. Fauci. I have a very good relationship with Dr. Fauci, and we’re all on the same team. We want to get rid of this mess that China sent us,” the President said on Wednesday at the White House.

The tension came out in the open after Peter Navarro, the President’s trade adviser, wrote an op-ed on USA Today that was highly critical of how Dr. Fauci is handling the pandemic. His article was titled, “Anthony Fauci Has Been Wrong About Everything I Have Interacted with Him On” Navarro listed his concerns with the main face behind the administration’s efforts to fight the coronavirus. He concluded the op-ed by saying, “So when you ask me whether I listen to Dr. Fauci’s advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution.”

President Trump seemingly sided with Fauci as he chided Navarro for voicing out his criticisms in such a public manner. The President said that Navarro made the statement himself, although he shouldn’t be doing that at all. He also added that he has a very good working relationship with Dr. Fauci. This does not mean that the President has not criticized the doctor. He has said in an interview with Hannity that while Fauci is a nice man, he has made a lot of mistakes. On another occasion, he has admitted that although he has a nice relationship with Fauci, they don’t always agree on things. There’s nothing surprising about that. With such high-level decisions being made when it comes to the pandemic, the policy-makers don’t always agree on things. There would be clashes of views, but what’s important is that there should be a clear policy being created, and that’s what’s coming from the Trump administration so far.

Unfortunately, the controversy is now being used by the critics of the administration. They’re now milking the issue as proof that the President does not believe the science and that he is going against the advice that the experts are providing him. The President’s enemies are so desperate to find anything that they can use to hinder all of his moves that they will inflate even the smallest matters to turn them into bigger problems.