President Donald Trump and Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | Saul Loeb and Mandel Ngan/Getty Images

Except Americans trust Fauci more than Trump on the Covid-19 response.

In the final weeks of his reelection campaign, President Donald Trump is facing harsh polling in key states and a major financial disadvantage, plus a pandemic that has left more than 220,000 Americans dead and millions in dire economic straights. In response, Trump has debuted a new line of attack on former Vice President Joe Biden: “He wants to listen to Dr. Fauci.”

At a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Monday, Trump told the crowd in disparaging tones that “Biden wants to lock it down,” and heed the advice of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci. The day before, at a rally in Carson