Donald Trump, no longer in power and muzzled online, is reportedly furious that he can't use social media to lash out at Dr Anthony Fauci.
Dr Fauci, the Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the face of the White House health response to the coronavirus pandemic, has been appearing on cable news shows and holding press briefings during which he is not exactly shy about his time working for Mr Trump.
On Friday, Dr Fauci said the former president "very likely" cost American lives by spreading lies and misinformation about the pandemic.
"It was very clear that there were things that were said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that, that really was uncomfortable because they were not based on scientific fact," he said. "I take no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the president."
Sources speaking with the Daily Beast claim Mr Trump has been hate-watching Dr Fauci's return tour and fuming that he has been banned from responding on Twitter.
Mr Trump has apparently complained that the doctor was "incompetent" and is telling those close to him he wishes he had fired him while he was in office.
The president cannot directly fire a civil-service employee, only political appointees.
The infectious disease expert said it was a "somewhat liberating feeling" to "let the science speak" rather than have to tip-toe around antagonising Mr Trump. According to the doctor, White House staff would call and chastise him for not giving positive briefings about the virus during press conferences.
As Dr Fauci's notoriety grew, critics of Mr Trump saw Dr Fauci as his foil, a voice of expertise and rationality next to a president who acted on impulse and in his own interest. Eventually the infectious disease expert was sidelined by Trump and a doctor who would play ball with the administration – Dr Scott Atlas, who did not have expertise in infectious diseases – began appearing on television.
After defeating Mr Trump in the 2020 election, Joe Biden made it clear early on that Dr Fauci would be a part of his administration's coronavirus response effort.
Mr Trump's Twitter account was suspended in the wake of the insurrection at the US Capitol.
Twitter determined that Mr Trump was using his platform to incite violence, which is a violation of the comapny's terms of service agreement.
In the days after the Capitol riots, Mr Trump was banned on Facebook, Instagram, Twitch and TikTok and had channels devoted to him on Reddit and Discord removed.
Conservatives were quick to call the private companies enforcing their terms of service agreements "censorship," though the complaints have largely fallen on deaf ears.
