The White House announced Monday that President Trump is not firing Dr. Anthony Fauci, even though Trump retweeted a call to fire Fauci on Sunday.

Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley released a statement that on speculation Trump might fire Fauci, saying “The media chatter is ridiculous–President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci” and that “Dr. Fauci has been and remains a trusted advisor to President Trump.”

Gidley posted the statement to Twitter:

“This media chatter is ridiculous – President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci…It was Democrats and the media who ignored Coronavirus…” pic.twitter.com/KCmvnnO23B — Hogan Gidley (@hogangidley45) April 13, 2020

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In media appearances Sunday on MSNBC and CNN, Fauci accused Trump of ignoring his early warnings in January and February about the coronavirus, costing the U.S lost lives.

Fauci, 79, is a leading member of the White House coronavirus task force. He has served since 1984 as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH.

Text of the statement by Gidley:

The media chatter is ridiculous–President Trump is not firing Dr. Fauci. The President’s tweet clearly exposed media attempts to maliciously push a falsehood about his China decision in an attempt to rewrite history. It was Democrats and the media who ignored Coronavirus choosing to focus on impeachment instead, and when they finally did comment on the virus it was to attack President Trump for taking the bold decisive action to save American lives by cutting off travel from China and Europe. Dr. Fauci has been and remains a trusted advisor to President Trump.”

Trump’s retweet from Sunday night of a tweet critical of Fauci that concluded with “Time to #FireFauci” that Gidley referenced in his statement:

“Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up. Thank you @OANN”

Sorry Fake News, it’s all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up. Thank you @OANN https://t.co/d40JQkUZg5 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2020

The tweet was by DeAnna Lorraine who ran unsuccessfully this year in the GOP primary to take on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

“Fauci is now saying that had Trump listened to the medical experts earlier he could’ve saved more lives.Fauci was telling people on February 29th that there was nothing to worry about and it posed no threat to the US public at large. Time to #FireFauci…”

https://twitter.com/DeAnna4Congress/status/1249457858686656512