Senator Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci got into yet another heated argument during a recent congressional hearing over, what else, the COVID-19 vaccine.
Paul has been picking fights with Fauci since the pandemic began, questioning vaccine mandates, masking policies, and the efficacy of booster shots. He continued to press Fauci on that last talking point in a Senate hearing on Thursday in which Fauci — who recently contracted COVID — participated virtually. The president’s chief medical advisor tested positive for the virus on Wednesday and has been quarantining in his home with mild symptoms.
But Paul didn’t let Fauci’s current health crisis stop him from badgering the infectious disease expert with questions he apparently didn’t want the answers to. First, the Republican senator quizzed Fauci on why booster shots are being recommended for children claiming that there was no evidence they helped defend against COVID any more than an initial two-dose vaccine regimen.
“There are no studies — and Americans should all know this — there are no studies on children showing a reduction in hospitalization or death with taking a booster,” Paul interrupted Fauci, who was trying to explain the assumption scientists have made by studying the effects of the vaccine on children when recommending a booster protocol. “The only studies that were permitted, the only studies that were presented, were antibody studies.”
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Paul went on to hypothesize about children receiving up to 10 booster shots — a figure Fauci labeled as “absurd” — before getting to the real bone he’d been wanting to pick about whether scientists were receiving royalties from vaccine manufacturers.
“Here’s what I want to know, it’s not just about you, everybody on the vaccine committee. Have any of them ever received money from the people who make vaccines?” Paul asked as Fauci tried to answer his initial question by disclosing his own meager earnings in royalties over the last five years.
Paul kept interrupting Fauci as he tried to explain the laws in place that protect scientists from having to disclose those financial matters until Fauci, clearly fed-up with the grandstanding, bit back.
“Sound bite No. 1 — are you going to let me answer a question?” Fauci forcefully interrupted Rand’s ranting. Things eventually got so tense between the two that the hearing’s presiding officer had to throw down the gavel, informing Paul he’d gone over his time even after being given an additional couple of minutes and telling everyone it was time to move on.
Watch the full exchange below: