Dr. Anthony Fauci says he's finally free to speak the truth of public health and COVID-19 under the Biden administration

Dr. Anthony Fauci claims that he's finally free to speak the truth of science now that former President Donald Trump is out of the White House.

What are the details?

According to a Friday NBC News report, Fauci — who is President Joe Biden's White House health adviser — said that the new administration is intent on being "completely transparent, open, and honest."

"It was very clear that there were things said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that, that really was uncomfortable because they were not based in scientific fact," he told reporters during a Thursday press briefing, the first in which he featured in months. "I can tell you, I take no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the president, so it was really something that you didn't feel that you could actually say something and there wouldn't be any repercussions about it."

"The idea that you can get up and talk about what you know, what the evidence is, what the science is, it is somewhat of a liberating feeling," he said.

Fauci added that he met with the new president ahead of Thursday's news conference, and the two addressed the presentation of information on COVID-19, promising that "everything we do will be based on science and evidence."

"One of the new things about this administration is that if you don't know the answer, don't guess," Fauci added. "Just say you don't know the answer."

The infectious diseases expert also appeared to take a subtle dig at Trump and said, "One of the things that we're going to do is be completely transparent, open, and honest. If things go wrong, not point fingers, but to correct them and to make everything we do based on science and evidence."

What else?

Earlier on Thursday, Fauci told the World Health Organization that the United States would remain a member of the agency under the Biden administration.

In May, the former president withdrew from the WHO following controversy regarding the origins and early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As such, I am honored to announce that the United States will remain a member of the World Health Organization," he said in prepared remarks. "Yesterday, President Biden signed letters retracting the previous Administration's announcement to withdraw from the organization, and those letters have been transmitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations."