Trump Strips Anthony Fauci of Security Detail

In less than a week, Anthony Fauci has been given protection by the outgoing president and then stripped of protection by the new one. President Trump on Thursday pulled the federal security detail of the retired US health official, reports CNN. The move comes days after former President Biden bestowed a pre-emptive pardon on Fauci, who remains reviled on the right over his COVID initiatives.

• "When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off," Trump told reporters Friday, per the Hill. "And you know, you can't have them forever. So, I think it's very standard." Fauci has not publicly commented.
• Trump rejected the idea he would be responsible if something happened to the former director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "You know, they all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security, too," he said. "Certainly I would not take responsibility."

• Fauci did not have Secret Service protection, notes the New York Times. Instead, he was initially protected by federal marshals, then by a private contractor paid for by the government.
• One of Fauci's biggest critics in Congress, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, tweeted Thursday that he had "sent supporting information to end the 24 hr a day limo and security detail for Fauci. I wish him nothing but peace but he needs to pay for his own limos." Both Paul and Trump have criticized Biden's pardon of Fauci.
• Fauci is the latest high-profile figure to lose federal protection since Trump's inauguration. Others include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (who considered a 2024 run before endorsing Trump) and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has become a fierce critic of Trump. Another is former State Department official Brian Hook. All three had received additional protection because of threats from Iran, per the Hill.

(More Anthony Fauci stories.)