Monday on MSNBC, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) was questioned about President Donald Trump’s retweet that was critical of Dr. Anthony Fauci and contained the hashtag “#FireFauci.”

Cuomo responded by referring to him as a “national treasure,” and voiced his confidence in Fauci.

Cuomo said, “I think Dr. Fauci is a national treasure right now. You look at what Americans say, and who they’re listening to and who they have confidence in, Dr. Fauci is at the top of the list. And anyone who knows his pedigree and his history and his accomplishments, he’s at the top of the list, of anyone’s list by the way. He’s been phenomenal as a calm, straightforward, factual voice in all of this. I know he’s been very helpful to New York. I’ve called him a number of times. He’s been very kind. I call him in the morning. I call him late at night to give me guidance on what to do. He’s an extraordinary talent, and he’s credible.”

He added, “He’s a reasonable voice but a voice-based on science and data. And not — doesn’t operate only in the abstract, you know you can talk to scientists and doctors who give you advice, but it’s devoid of the reality of the situation, right? Where I have to actually get 19 million people to do what I’m asking them to do. So Dr. Fauci, yes, he’s a voice of science and learned and experience, but he also understands the governmental process and that we have to get people to actually adhere to these policies. That realism is very important. I go through the numbers with him because I study the data every night. I’m not a public health official, and I then talk to Dr. Fauci, and I say, here are our numbers, hospitalization rate, death rate, what do you think is happening? He’s been an extraordinary sounding board for me personally.”

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