Former presidential medical adviser clashed with far-right congresswoman when he testified in front of the House Oversight Committee on Monday about the Trump administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic

Dr Anthony Fauci has accused Marjorie Taylor Greene of inspiring death threats against him.

The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases clashed with the Republican firebrand lawmaker at a hearing of the House Oversight Committee on Monday in which he gave testimony about the Trump administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the hearing, Greene told Fauci he was “not a doctor” and that he “belonged in prison” for “crimes against humanity” amid heated questioning. She also accused him of experimenting on beagles with disease-causing parasites.

“Whenever somebody gets up, whether it’s the news media you know, Fox News does it a lot or it’s somebody in the Congress who gets up and makes a public statement that I’m responsible for the deaths of x number of people because of policies or some crazy idea that I created the virus — immediately — you could like clockwork, the death threats, go way up,” Fauci said during an appearance with Kaitlan Collins on CNN.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Just as a quick aside to note that making death threats is a crime.

    I’m still kind of amazed that we know exactly what shows, links, and ads these people like but when they make death threats the powers that be are all “who?? What?? Where??”

  • dhork@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    “Because the purpose of hearings are to try and figure out how we can do better so that next time if and when we all faced with a pandemic we’d be better prepared and we could benefit if mistakes were made; we identify them and we try to correct them for the future,” he added.

    Fauci said that, and I’m sure thats why prior Congresses held hearings like this, but I’m sure he knows that the reason why this hearing was called was specifically to make those performances. MTG was put in that committee specifically to say those things while Fauci was in the room, in an election year.

    But, since Fauci is a bit of a politican as well as a scientist, he knows he can’t just say that. So he goes and says something that at least suggests to people how weird this all is.

  • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    During the hearing, Greene told Fauci he was “not a doctor” and that he “belonged in prison” for “crimes against humanity” amid heated questioning. She also accused him of experimenting on beagles with disease-causing parasites.

    “As a dog lover, I want to tell you this is disgusting and evil, what you signed off on, and these experiments that happened to beagles paid for by the American taxpayer,” she said. “And I want you to know that Americans don’t pay their taxes for animals to be tortured liked this.”

    Unusual? How about unhinged?

    The vaccine is for a virus, which is a replicating protein, not a parasite.

    Dogs are by definition not humanity, but the billions of people who were protected from the virus certainly are.

    https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/4/22-1727_article

    I doubt she knows how the makeup she cakes on her face is tested.

    • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I enjoy how the party of law and order just wants to consistently ignore laws and order and demands immediate imprisonment of anybody who makes them look bad. It’s been going on for years, but its intensity since Cheeto diapers came around has increased exponentially.

      • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        “law and order” is just dog whistle for using cops to harass outgroups.

        Don’t ever ever forget that the cruelty is the point. They don’t give a fuck about the law.

  • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    At what point is someone going to say enough with her crazy bullshit and expel her for disorderly behavior? Pretty sure enough people are fed up with her to get a two-thirds…

    • Delusional@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Yeah it’d be nice if everyone was just like “yeah you’re a nuisance and haven’t done anything positive once and only produce negative bullshit constantly so you’re now removed from office and no longer allowed to speak publicly or appear on TV because you obviously bring no good to anyone whatsoever and the world would be a better off place without you in it. If you could just crawl under a rock and die, everyone on earth would appreciate it.”

  • m13@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    She’s a stochastic terrorist, as are many of the American far right. They are already responsible for many mass shootings, murders, and threats of violence.

  • Sam_Bass@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Mtg is unusual by default. She gives blondes a bad name as shes more than a few bricks light

  • _number8_@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    to be fair the pandemic handling did fucking suck and ruin lives. there were stories about how people couldn’t say goodbye to dying relatives because of “distancing rules” (which the Washington Post confirmed were basically picked out of thin air, obviously) which is just blatantly inhumane and obviously careless. you’re not building public trust or respect with rules like that. i’d happily get covid if i could say goodbye to my mom before she dies, fuck you.

      • _number8_@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        lmao it’s unempathetic to say people should be able to say goodbye to loved ones. covid was spreading everywhere anyway! if that hugely meaningful interaction didn’t get them infected, work or school or the gas station or a hotel or a restaurant would the next day anyway.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          “Millions of people were dying anyway, so I should have been able to say goodbye to my third cousin Phil in person instead of via video chat!”