Welcome to the Dispatch Podcast. I'm your host Sarah Isger joined by Steve Hayes, David French, and for the first time our very own staff writer Andrew Egger while Jonah Goldberg's in Alaska.

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And a little later we'll hear from our sponsors express VPN and car shield. Today with the guys I'll talk about the intro White House feud over coronavirus the debate over reopening schools David will give us his definition of cancel culture as we discuss the latest battle over the soul of the New York Times.

And we'll end with a little election talk as Joe Biden goes up with ads in the newest swing state. Texas. Oh, plus what is the best fast food fry a heated discussion as we debate McDonald's versus five guys and some surprise answers as well.

Let's dive right in. I guess we're going to start with what is maybe the strangest news of today Peter Navarro assistant to the president director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.

Publish an op-ed in USA today. Here was the title and included in the op-ed Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.

And it ends with so when you ask me whether I listen to Dr. Fauci's advice my answer is only with skepticism and caution.

Alyssa fair from the White House communications department then tweeted the Peter Navarro op-ed didn't go through normal White House clearance processes and is the opinion of Peter alone.

Donald Trump values the expertise of the medical professionals advising his administration. Steve this is incredibly strange.

This is in the incredibly strange. If something like this had happened in a previous administration it's almost certain that the offending White House official would have been fired on the spot taking shots at another at a colleague.

Well, what's also strange is it's to me as someone who you know used to be in this world it would be strange for USA today not to be in communication with the White House communications shop about an op-ed as well that was being published by administration official.

Yeah, I mean that's a good question to ask you if if Navarro reached out to USA today directly would there be any reason for the for USA to reach out to the White House or do they just assume that Navarro has a green light to take this clear shot right a hit piece.

I mean, I think that's what I think it's about his college. You think it would sort of accidentally come up I guess in my experience like you know your USA today reporter would be like hey so is there any backstory on this Navarro op-ed and you'd be like say what now.

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's I mean it's odd it's odd for a bunch of reasons it's odd because they're having this major public dispute where you've got a White House trade advisor effectively writing a hit piece on the administration.

And the president chose to make the face of the coronavirus response giving him prime prime television time at the the briefings putting him on virtually every media outlet and in every media venue possible to help explain what the administration was doing somebody who's you know obviously there's been tremendous tension between Anthony Fauci and Donald Trump from sort of the earliest days.

Of the pandemic but not necessarily personal grievance tension. I mean I think there was personal grievance tension from Trump to Fauci. I don't and Fauci has Fauci has been it's been painful to watch him plead with reporters again and again and again not to make this a personality contest between Anthony Fauci and Donald Trump.

I mean he's literally said this at the beginning of interviews like I'm going to give you a straight answer here but please don't highlight the fact that it's contradicting what the president has said that'll just cause problems.

But you know the strangest thing is Peter Navarro is a you know five time failed candidate for elective office who sort of stumbled into the White House on on the heels of his you know protectionist trade policies that happened to overlap with Donald Trump.

He's not terribly liked within the White House. He's not very well respected by economists outside the White House and the idea that this trade advisor would would write a stinging hit piece on the top epidemiologist in the Trump administration in the middle of a global pandemic.

It's the kind of thing that if I were to have said this to you you know two years ago or five years ago that this was happening.

You would have called me crazy wouldn't wouldn't have have been believable. And then if I would have added that this person doesn't appear to be in danger of getting fire or really suffer any consequences.

This is that would have been even more unbelievable. So you just wonder if what's next is you know Elaine Chow writing an op-ed in the Washington Post taking on Paul Nakasone the head of the National Security Agency for you know one policy or or another or Robert O'Brien the National Security Council writing writing a hit piece on Ben Carson because he doesn't like the housing policies.

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