Congress, Coronavirus, Top Stories

Quote Of The Day: Dr. Fauci Tells Rand Paul, “You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About”

By News & Guts
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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 02: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a meeting with the White House Coronavirus Task Force and pharmaceutical executives in Cabinet Room of the White House on March 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. Also pictured, from L to R, Debbie Brix, White House Corona Virus Response Coordinator, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. President Trump and his Coronavirus Task Force team met with pharmaceutical companies representatives who are actively working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Once again, Senator Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical advisor, clashed before cameras at a Senate hearing. This time it was over accusations Paul made that implied Fauci knew that the National Institutes of Health funded research at a Wuhan Lab where the coronavirus may have originated.

CNBC writes:

Paul grilled Fauci about an NIH funded study that he says qualifies as gain-of-function research, the process of altering a pathogen to make it more transmissible in order to better predict emerging diseases. Fauci previously denied in previous Senate testimony that the NIH has directly funded the research at a lab in Wuhan, China that has come under intense scrutiny as a possible source of the virus.

During the testy exchange, which can be viewed in the clip below, Sen. Paul warns Fauci that “it’s a crime to lie to Congress” before launching into his accusations. Fauci, who oversees several NIH research programs as director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he would not retract his previous statement. “I have not lied before Congress. I have never lied. Certainly not before Congress. Case closed,” he said.

With his patience for Paul’s predictable histrionics seemingly exhausted, Fauci said this:

“Senator Paul, you do not know what you are talking about, and I want to say that officially. You do not know what you’re talking about.”

Watch the entire exchange below. It’s remarkable.

Fauci then said if anyone is being dishonest, it’s Paul and questioned whether he is living in reality.

Dr. Fauci and Senator Paul have clashed multiple times in these Senate hearings. The last time, Paul mocked Fauci wearing a mask in public even though Fauci is vaccinated. Paul, who had COVID-19 last year, says he will not get the COVID vaccine because he believes he now has immunity — even though medical experts say it’s unclear if those who have had COVID are now immune.