Trump is furiously watching Fauci give interviews about how relieved he is to be working for Biden, report says

Since Biden became president, Dr. Anthony Fauci has spoken about his relief that Trump is out.

Sources told The Daily Beast that Trump had been hate-watching Fauci's TV interviews.

One source said Trump felt that "people are working to downgrade his legacy out of hatred."

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Former President Donald Trump has been obsessively and furiously watching Dr. Anthony Fauci's TV interviews since President Joe Biden took office, The Daily Beast reported on Sunday, citing sources.

Fauci has been transparent about his relief to be working under a new administration, saying at a White House press briefing on Thursday that it was "a somewhat liberating feeling."

While Fauci wasn't afraid of contradicting Trump's misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, he stopped short of directly criticizing Trump when he was president or talking about the politics of the coronavirus task force.

But it seems the filter is off now that Biden's boss.

Fauci told CNN on Friday that Trump "very likely" cost American lives by spreading lies about the pandemic. He also told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that he had tried to come on her show for months but was blocked by the Trump administration.

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He told The New York Times over the weekend that Trump and top White House advisors would sometimes call him after an interview asking why he didn't give a more "positive" outlook on the pandemic or why he contradicted Trump's claims.

President Joe Biden in the State Dining Room of the White House on Friday. Alex Wong/Getty

The Daily Beast, citing two sources, reported that Trump had been closely watching Fauci's media tour from his new home at Mar-a-Lago, whining about how "incompetent" Fauci was and how he should have fired the infectious-disease expert when he had the chance.

The Daily Beast reported that Trump was angry that he couldn't tweet about Fauci, as his Twitter account was permanently suspended in the wake of the Capitol riot.

"He very much feels that a lot of people are working to downgrade his legacy out of hatred for him," one source told The Daily Beast.

Read more: Trump tested the Constitution and shredded traditions. Biden and the Democrats have big plans of their own about what to do next.

Trump and Fauci often clashed over how to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak and over the government's messaging.

Trump pushed to reopen schools and businesses, while Fauci said more restrictions were needed.

Trump took a hands-off approach, leaving decisions mostly to the states. Biden, on the other hand, is trying to find more ways the federal government can intervene to curb the spread of the virus, from requiring masks on mass transit to ramping up vaccine distribution.

Biden has his work cut out for him; infections reported in the US topped 25 million over the weekend, with more than 400,000 deaths.