Dr. Anthony Fauci, in testimony released Friday, complained that the First Amendment makes it harder to police speech critical of him.
Fauci, a former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has faced intense scrutiny over his response to the COVID-19 pandemic and allegations that he funded gain-of-function research at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology through the EcoHealth Alliance. testified Speaking before a closed-door Select Subcommittee on COVID-19 in January, he said it would be difficult to mitigate the problem of him and other public servants being demonized because of the First Amendment. (Related: Exclusive: House, Senate Republicans urge government agencies to end EcoHealth subsidies)
🚨Dr. Fauci’s transcript released🚨
today, translation: They released the transcript of a two-day, 14-hour interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is scheduled to testify publicly on Monday for the first time since his retirement.
Key takeaways from private testimony:
— Special Subcommittee on COVID-19 (@COVIDSelect) May 31, 2024
“Anytime a scientist tries to counter the misinformation and disinformation that’s out there, they get threatened very quickly,” Fauci testified in response to a series of questions about why those threats discourage people from becoming public health experts. “I don’t know why that happens, but it happens very quickly. Anytime someone steps up and defends Tony Fauci on social media or anywhere, you can be sure that within the hour they themselves will get threatened.” (Related: ‘RIGGED: Death Of The American Voter’ — Streaming Now)
Fauci went on to say that these threats are a cause of hesitation for people to become public health officials. The representative asked the former NIAID director what the U.S. can do to “ensure that we have an adequately staffed and qualified workforce for scientific research, and particularly for pandemic preparedness.”
“One is to show unequivocal support for our public health officials,” Fauci responded, adding, “Certainly there are legitimate differences that can be discussed, but when public health officials or individuals are being demonized, I think everybody, including all branches of government, needs to publicly show great support for those people.”
Former President Donald Trump recently suggested he could prosecute Fauci and hold him accountable if he is re-elected.
“I hope there aren’t any of those threats, but I would encourage them not to waver and hopefully, something would be done to de-escalate those threats,” Fauci testified. “And by de-escalate those threats, I mean, as you said, people can say whatever they want, and you can’t stop them. But when public officials and the media demonize health officials, that’s a really strong deterrent.”
“And I would encourage them to look at the rewards of the role that public health plays, which is taking care of people. That’s what I and many of my colleagues have been doing for a long time. Again, this is a tricky situation because you can’t stop somebody from saying what they want to say because of free speech,” he added. “One of the things we can do is encourage public servants who are supposed to be concerned with the interests of the country not to be complicit in the issue of demonization. I’ve been demonized by many public servants. I mean, I’ve been a campaign slogan through several election cycles. That’s very clear. And it’s no secret. I can say that quite clearly, not ‘I can’t remember.’ I can remember very clearly what it was. I’ve been totally demonized in various elections. You know, ‘Fire Fauci. Throw him in jail. Vote for me.’
While many American workers and businesses suffered financially as a result of the coronavirus response policies promoted by Fauci, Fauci and his wife’s net worth increased by $5 million during that period.
President Joe Biden’s White House has engaged in efforts to lobby social media companies to censor certain views, particularly on the issues of COVID-19 and vaccinations, with former White House digital strategy director Robert Flaherty recently failing to state “the five tenets of the First Amendment” in testimony at a hearing on government censorship.
Fauci did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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