Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed in a Tuesday interview that Americans should consider ousting the unvaccinated from their family holiday gatherings.
Fauci joined guest host Alicia Menendez on MSNBC’s “The Beat” to discuss the impact of the Omicron variant on potential holiday plans and what he believed people should be doing to make sure that they and their families stayed safe throughout the season.
“If someone in your family isn’t vaccinated, should you ask them not to show up?” Menendez put the question to Fauci bluntly.
“Ah, yes, I would do that,” Fauci replied. “I mean, I think we’re dealing with a serious enough situation right now that if there’s an unvaccinated person I would say, ‘I’m very sorry but not this time. Maybe another time when this is all over.'”
Fauci instructs Americans to tell their unvaccinated family members to not show up for Christmas.
“Say, ‘I’m very sorry, but not this time. Maybe another time when this is all over’.” pic.twitter.com/7fckY098Hm
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 22, 2021
Menendez began the interview by asking Fauci how concerned someone who was “triple vaxxed” — meaning fully vaccinated with an additional booster shot — should be about the spread of the omicron variant, and Fauci noted that while there would certainly be some “breakthrough infections,” the level of antibodies in those who had received booster shots indicated that they should have a reasonable degree of protection against severe disease and hospitalizations.
“You can feel reasonably comfortable that, all other things being equal, that you would not get seriously ill if you get infected,” Fauci explained. “There will be breakthrough infections. This is an extraordinary virus that has an amazing capability to be transmitted from person to person, but with a double vaccination of an mRNA with a boost, the protection against serious disease is considerable.”
Fauci continued to tout the vaccine and argued that people should set politics aside when considering whether or not to get one of the available COVID-19 vaccines. “It’s the best thing for you and your family, but also your societal responsibility to not allow yourself to be a vehicle for spread to someone else who might be very vulnerable,” he said.
Fauci made headlines earlier this week when he called for Fox News to fire host Jesse Watters “on the spot.” Watters, when speaking at a recent event, had suggested that people should “ambush” Fauci with tough questions about his role in supporting the type of dangerous gain-of-function research that many believe led to the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China. Watters referred to such a question as a “kill shot,” prompting Fauci and others to suggest that Watters was promoting actual violence against him.
Fox News issued a statement defending Watters, making it clear that the network was standing behind him. Greg Gutfeld, Watters’ co-host on ratings juggernaut “The Five,” also defended him.
Watters responded by referring to Fauci as simply one of the “clowns who thought funding dangerous experiments on that coronavirus … at the Wuhan lab was a grand idea.”
Watch the full interview segment with Alicia Menendez below: