Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of the lead White House Coronavirus Task Force members, is on record telling Newsmax in January that the coronavirus was “not a major threat.”

"This is not a major threat…" WATCH 🔊: Dr. Anthony Fauci's original thoughts about the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak are revisited from a January interview with Newsmax TV's @gregkellyusa. pic.twitter.com/0KmHxxkeBp — Newsmax (@newsmax) April 3, 2020

“This is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States should be worried about right now,” Dr. Fauci told Newsmax’s Greg Kelly on January 21.

Dr. Fauci has backtracked on his original message. He now says the U.S. has yet to receive the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak. He has even encouraged a national shutdown after telling NBC in late February that Americans should go about their normal lifestyles.

Dr. Fauci has been the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, serving under every U.S. President since Ronald Reagan.