United States Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took Dr. Anthony Fauci to task during a hearing on Capitol Hill today. Paul, a medical doctor, accused Dr. Fauci of obscuring the truth to control a narrative that profited him personally. Dr. Fauci claimed Paul was “distorting everything about” me.
Dr. Fauci and his nemesis, Paul, crossed paths for the second time in as many months as new emails disclose Dr. Fauci’s early knowledge that the virus was likely artificially created and that he attempted to quash discussion on the subject.
At today’s hearing, Paul accused Dr. Fauci of being a “central planner” who ruthlessly attempts to silence those who disagree with his assessments and recommendations.
Paul also accused Dr. Fauci of being a narcissist who arrogantly stifles debate by asserting, “To question him is to question science,” referring to a June MSNBC interview during which Fauci made that claim.
“Dr. Fauci, the idea that a government official like yourself would claim [that you] unilaterally represent science and that any criticism of you is criticism of science itself is quite dangerous,” Dr. Paul charged. “Central planning, whether it be of the economy or of science, is risky because of the fallibility of the planner.”
Dr. Fauci did not dispute the claim and chose to respond by accusing Dr. Paul of attacking him for political gain.
A masked and testy Fauci said to the committee:
“[Dr. Paul], you accuse me of, in a monolithic way, telling people what they need to do. Everything that I’ve said has been in support of the CDC guidelines: Wear a mask, get boosted. So I would like to make something clear to the committee. He’s doing this for political reasons.”
Dr. Fauci did not mention that the CDC guidelines are not supported by many scientists, including the more than 910,000 who have signed the Great Barrington Declaration, an online petition penned by three leading epidemiologists representing Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford Universities.
And though Dr. Fauci referenced America’s COVID death count as approaching 900,000, he did not note how those numbers are likely wildly inflated, nor the CDC’s refusal to report how many died with COVID compared with how many died from COVID.
Angry with Paul’s line of questioning, Dr. Fauci said:
“We are…look[ing] at a virus now that has killed almost 900,000 people, and the purpose of the committee was to try and get things out, how we can help to … the American public, and you keep coming back to personal attacks on me that have absolutely no relevance to reality.”
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In an unusual tactic, rather than debate or point to the science, Dr. Fauci shifted the discussion to threats made against his life.
Dr. Paul responded by noting that his life has also been threatened over pandemic politics and that he was present at a 2017 baseball field when 24 Republicans were preparing for a charity event and a gunman opened fire. He then questioned why Dr. Fauci implied that those who dare question him were “responsible somehow for violent threats.”
“It’s disappointing for you to suggest that people who dare to question you are responsible somehow for violent threats. Realize that by attacking me, you’re attacking the one member who actually has suffered from violent attacks,” Paul said. “We had over 160 rounds of semi-automatic weapons fired at us. So for you to somehow suggest that somehow I or people who dare to oppose you are responsible for a threat, that’s insulting.”
Dr. Paul added, “A planner who believes he is the science leads to an arrogance that justifies in his mind using government resources to smear and to destroy the reputations of other scientists who disagree with them.”
Dr. Fauci responded by pointing to a post on Paul’s website which solicited donations to support the effort to have Dr. Fauci fired. Further, he alleged Paul was engaging in personal attacks against him and risking his safety.
In another fiery exchange between the two in November, Dr. Fauci said, “It makes me very uncomfortable to have to say something, but [Paul] is egregiously incorrect in what he says.”
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