Poor Dr. Anthony Fauci. Not only has he done his best to help Americans battle a once-in-a-century public health crisis; he’s also had to put up with relentless nonsense from conservatives. Last week, the perpetually embattled immunologist had to deal with Ted Cruz saying he should be prosecuted (for…?). Then there was Fox Nation host Lara Logan, who bizarrely compared him to Dr. Joseph Mengele. And on Sunday, he had to take the time to clap back at yet another trash-talking Republican.
Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson — already well-known for calling the Jan. 6 Capitol siege a “peaceful protest” — recently dragged Dr. Fauci over what he saw was an embellishment of the severity of a virus that has killed more Americans the Civil War.
“By the way, Fauci did the same exact thing with AIDS,” Johnson told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade. “He overhyped it. He created all kinds of fear, saying it could infect the entire population when it couldn’t, and he’s doing, he’s using the exact same playbook with COVID: ignoring therapy, pushing a vaccine.”
On Sunday during an appearance on CNN, host Jake Tapper asked him about Johnson’s “bizarre and false assertion.”
Fauci on Sen. Ron Johnson saying he’s “overhyped” Covid: “How do you respond to something as preposterous as that? … Overhyping Covid? It’s already killed 780,000 Americans and over 5 million people worldwide. So I don’t have any clue of what he’s talking about.” pic.twitter.com/ENgXo6jJIK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 5, 2021
“You know, Jake, how do you respond to something as preposterous as that?!” an exasperated Fauci replied. “Overhyping AIDS? It killed over 750,000 Americans and 36 million people worldwide. How do you overhype that? Overhyping COVID? It’s already killed 780,000 Americans and over 5 million people worldwide, so I don’t have any clue what he’s talking about.”
Tapper added, “I don’t think he does either.”
Of course, it would be better if Dr. Fauci didn’t have to respond to ridiculous statements from a party whose members don’t even seem to know that cancer, unlike COVID, isn’t contagious.
(Via The Daily Beast)