The White House's chief medical adviser apparently won't let go of the recent mask mandate cancellation.
On Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci ripped U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle for dropping the federal mask mandate for public transportation, telling CBS News the Florida-based judge has "no experience" in the medical field.
In the full quote, Fauci said to CBS: "The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has the capability, through a large number of trained epidemiologists, scientists, to be able to make projections and make recommendations ... far more than a judge with no experience in public health."
Earlier on Thursday, Fauci similarly dismissed Judge Mizelle's "unfortunate" ruling, while also praising the CDC's expertise.
"Well, I follow the CDC guidelines. And the CDC wanted to extend the mandate for the 15-day period beyond April 18, up to May 3. The reason they wanted to do that was they wanted to see what the pattern of infection is during this bit of a surge we're seeing," Fauci said in an interview with USA Today.
Current data suggests that COVID-19 infections in America have precipitously declined in recent weeks, but that's not how Fauci views the trends.
"It's obvious to everyone we're seeing that infections are on the rise. Whether or not that will result in an increase in hospitalizations, we don't know. We hope not," Fauci told CBS News.
On Monday, Judge Mizelle struck down the White House and CDC's mask mandate for airplanes, trains, buses, and ride-share outfits such as Uber and Lyft, among other transit modes.
And two days later, the Justice Department filed a notice that it would appeal Judge Mizelle's ruling, at the behest of the CDC and White House.
Given passengers' newfound freedom with masking on public transportation, Fauci said he still plans to wear N95 masks when flying.
"(The virus) is not going to be eradicated, and it's not going to be eliminated," Fauci recently said on ABC's "This Week" program.
"And what's going to happen is that we're going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take."
Fauci did not acknowledge that Americans now have tremendous access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, or how the Biden administration still wants to repeal the CDC's Title 42 health order at the U.S.-Mexico border — which, on the surface, runs directly against the logic behind the mask mandate for public transit.
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