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‘A Catastrophic Epidemic For Your Political Gain’: Fauci Comes To COVID Hearing With Opposition Research On Rand Paul

   DailyWire.com
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 11: Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief Medical Advisor and Director of the NIAID, shows a screen grab of a campaign website for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) while answering his questions at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2022 in Washington, D.C. The committee will hear testimony about the federal response to COVID-19 and new, emerging variants. (Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci accused Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) of using the coronavirus pandemic for his own political gain, appearing at a Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill with “evidence” he had printed from Paul’s website.

The heated exchange between Paul and Fauci, who currently serves as both the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden, began with Paul’s contention that Fauci had used his position to smear other epidemiologists who disagreed with his opinions on how the federal government should respond to COVID-19.

“The idea that a government official like yourself would claim unilaterally to represent science and that any criticism of you would be considered a criticism of science itself is quite dangerous,” Paul said, going on to argue that Fauci — along with former National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, had orchestrated a “published takedown” of scientists who advocated a more measured and targeted response to the pandemic.

As Paul’s time expired, Fauci asked for time to rebut the senator’s claims — but once his request was granted, instead of addressing Paul’s questions directly, Fauci accused him of fomenting death threats and said he didn’t know what he was talking about.

“So I ask myself why would a senator want to do this? So go to Rand Paul’s website and you see ‘Fire Dr. Fauci’ with a little box that says ‘Contribute here.’ You can do $5, $10, $20, $100,” Fauci continued, holding up pictures he said were printed from Paul’s website and wrapping up his remarks with the claim, “So you are making a catastrophic epidemic for your political gain.”

“You have politically attacked your colleagues and in a politically reprehensible way you’ve attacked their reputations,” Paul shot back.

Paul’s website, as Fauci noted, does have a page listed under the “issues” heading that reads “Fire Fauci.” The statement under that heading reads simply, “Dr. Anthony Fauci has abandoned science and embraced theatrics at the expense of our freedom. Thanks to public email records, we know for certain that Dr. Fauci has been ignoring good advice, and lying about everything from masks to the contagiousness of the virus. It’s time to say enough is enough and Fire Fauci.”

However, the “Fire Fauci” page does not include contribution options as Fauci suggested — rather, the page displaying options to donate to Paul’s campaign is accessed through the red “donate” button visible at the top right corner of every page.

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