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President Trump’s long-fraught relationship with Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease specialist, ruptured again this week in an ugly public dispute just as U.S. coronavirus cases have ticked past 50,000 per day and with three weeks left in a campaign dominated by the government’s response to the pandemic. Trump on Tuesday responded to Fauci’s warnings that the president’s decision to resume campaign rallies this week was “very troublesome” by mocking him in a tweet that unfavorably compared his medical guidance to his errant ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals game in July. (Nakamura, Dawsey and Abutaleb, 10/13)

The president’s tweet appeared to be a reference to skepticism Dr. Fauci expressed about masks in March, a position he later reversed. Mr. Trump didn’t wear a mask in public until this summer and has often mocked their usage. The president’s latest criticism of Dr. Fauci, whom he has regularly attacked for months, came a day after the doctor called for the Trump campaign to take down the ad featuring his comments. “To take a completely out-of-context statement…I thought it was really very disappointing,” Dr. Fauci said on CNN on Monday. He said it would be “outrageous” if the campaign uses his comments in future ads. (Ballhaus, 10/13)

Health officials have struggled to convey the seriousness of Covid-19 to many Americans. President Trump’s rapid recovery from the disease, while welcome by all, makes the challenge even more difficult, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases acknowledged. Trump’s quick bounce-back from his infection will likely underscore the mistaken belief some people have that the disease does not present significant health risks, Fauci said in an interview with STAT. (Branswell, 10/13)