Dr. Anthony Fauci is losing patience with President Donald Trump _ and the feeling may be mutual.
The nation's top pandemic doctor expressed growing frustration with Trump's handling of the crisis, which has included equal doses of false claims and unfounded rosy predictions.
"I can't jump in front of the microphone and push him down," Fauci told Science Magazine on Sunday.
Trump is also unhappy that Fauci has grabbed the spotlight from him and appears to be much more trusted by the public, the New York Times reported Monday, citing two Trump insiders.
Although Fauci has refrained from directly calling out Trump in person for lies, he chided Trump for giving incorrect and at times damaging information about the pandemic.
In just a few days, Trump has made false claims to the nation about everything from a Google website to coordinate coronavirus testing to the possibility of an imminent vaccine and his "hunch" that an anti-malaria drug could turn out to be a "miracle" treatment for the fast-spreading disease.
"It could lead to some misunderstanding about what the facts are about a given subject," Fauci told the magazine.
That dynamic is apparently beginning to wear thin on Trump, who has a history of not tolerating any independent opinions or public disagreements.
Trump on Monday pressed unfounded claims that the pandemic might ease within his self-declared "15 days to stop the spread" campaign, which expires in days.
But Fauci and other public health experts say coronavirus will keep spreading and will kill far more Americans if strict shutdown measures are not enforced for much longer.
