Since the start of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Rand Paul have butted heads over how the country should handle COVID mitigations. While Fauci has been a steady hand promoting best practices, Paul has been the opposite of that and has routinely engaged in conspiracy theories on the Senate floor. Despite Fauci schooling Paul every time the senator peddles some new dangerous talking point, the infectious disease doctor and his family have been the target of repeated death threats including a recent incident in December that prompted Fauci’s latest dress-down of Paul. But, this time, the good doctor came loaded with receipts.
Via Mediaite:
What happens when he gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue is that all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there and I have threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children with obscene phone calls, because people are lying about me.
Now, I guess you could say, well, that’s the way it goes, I can take the hit. Well, it makes a difference. Because as some of you may know, just about three or four weeks ago on Dec. 21, a person was arrested who was on their way from Sacramento to Washington, D.C., at a speed stop in Iowa. The police asked him where he was going, and he was going to Washington, D.C. to kill Dr. Fauci. And they found in his car an AR-15 and multiple magazines of ammunition, because he thinks that maybe I’m killing people.
As for why Paul would continue to stir up the “crazies,” Fauci knows the answer: Fundraising. Armed with printouts from Paul’s campaign website, Fauci blasted the senator for raising money off of the pandemic and stirring up death threats.
Fauci: Why would a Senator want to do this? Go to Rand Paul’s website and you see fire Dr. Fauci with a little box that says contribute here. So you are making catastrophic epidemic for your political gain pic.twitter.com/8dvxZ5ELxp
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 11, 2022
“So I ask myself why would a senator want to do this? So go to Rand Paul website and you see ‘Fire Dr. Fauci’ with a little box that says ‘Contribute here.’ You can do $5, $10, $20, $100,” Fauci said from the Senate floor. “So you are making a catastrophic epidemic for your political gain.”
In response, Paul fired back with non-specific accusations of Fauci politically attacking his own colleagues in a “politically reprehensible way.” Compared to Fauci holding a handful of undeniable receipts, it was a pretty weak response.
(Via Mediaite)