Anthony Fauci, the top COVID-19 adviser to Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, has been in the hot seat this week, drawing fierce criticism from Republican lawmakers and constant praise from Democrats. Monday's hearing, hosted by the House Oversight Committee's Special Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, served as a classic example of the extreme polarization that characterizes modern American political discourse. To half the country, Fauci is a villain, but to the other half, he deserves to be a saint.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a former prisoner, refused to address him by his medical rank, instead calling him “Mr. Fauci” and repeatedly saying he should be sent to prison. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), on the other hand, apologized to Fauci on behalf of his colleagues and condemned Fauci's right to embrace the “big medical lie” for which he was somehow responsible. causing And pointlessly turned the conversation to Trump's recent felony conviction.
Dr. Fauci has dedicated his life to public health and fighting infectious diseases. Based on lies, Republicans are treating him like a convicted felon. Oh my, he would hope they treated him like a convicted felon! pic.twitter.com/8jxV5QPZJm
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) June 4, 2024
When asked about the hearing in an interview with CNN, Fauci said Greene's irresponsible investigation would increase the number of death threats he receives.
“There are people who believe that kind of nonsense,” he told CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
Let's agree that neither Fauci nor anyone else in public life should face death threats. At the same time, no one should be prevented from going after public officials simply because doing so is likely to send an encouraging signal to more aggressive and irritated critics. In any case, the counter-claims tend to be incredibly one-sided. Mainstream media outlets often attack right-wing figures with death threats thrown their way, while ignoring the fact that right-wingers also receive death threats when they come under media scrutiny. . Irresponsible rhetoric and the threats of violence that come with it should be condemned both ways, but no one should feel obligated to throw a punch just because there are a lot of angry people on the internet.
Want to know more about freedom of expression, social media, and why everyone in the media can be wrong everywhere, all the time? join free media from reason and Robbie Soave.
We must also agree that calls to jail Fauci are premature at best. He has never been convicted of any crime. Moreover, his misguided pandemic policies cannot be prosecuted. Critics are right to point out his ever-changing opinions on the efficacy of masks, his disregard for post-infection immunity and vaccine-related protection, and the 6-foot social distancing guideline. It was essentially invented on the spot. Government officials who propose bad policies should be voted out of office or appropriately terminated. But he cannot be imprisoned.
Fauci's role in the alleged lab leak cover-up is a different matter. like reasonChristian Britschgi's transcript of the hearing demonstrates well that Fauci's direct rebuff to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) about U.S. funding for gain-of-function research was misleading at best. And potentially an outright lie. (Lying to Congress is, in fact, a crime.) Fauci's top deputy, David Morens, admitted to interfering with media investigations by suppressing certain emails in Freedom of Information Act requests. There are serious questions about whether Fauci pressured scientific experts to accept a natural spillover explanation for the origins of COVID-19. Perhaps because the explanation of the lab leak would have led to greater scrutiny of U.S. health officials and their research priorities. I interviewed Paul this week about Fauci's role in quashing the lab leak theory, and he said he came to believe the National Institutes of Health was “more secretive than the CIA.”
But it doesn't matter whether Fauci was actually criminally responsible. It is abundantly clear that he does not deserve the miserable hero worship he has received during the pandemic. (Remember the pouch candle?) His COVID-19 prevention policies are extremely questionable, his public advocacy of scientific enhancement of the pathogenic virus is incredibly worrisome, and his attempts to control the narrative about the origins of the pandemic are exculpatory. Unable to. Watch Matt Orfalea's excellent roundup of all the times Fauci has denied the lab leak theory, despite Fauci insisting he has never expressed a strong opinion one way or the other.
I sat down with Amber Duke to discuss Fauci's evasiveness, Jen Psaki's advice to Biden, and criticism of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
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