Move over Ali vs. Frazier and Tyson vs. Douglas. Tuesday’s Fauci vs Paul Senate floor fight was one for the record books.
Politics
In case you’re unfamiliar with Fauci vs Paul, let’s introduce you to the participants:
In this corner is Dr. Anthony Fauci, a world-renowned immunologist, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the preeminent infectious disease expert of our generation.
And, in this corner is Republican Senator, Dr. Rand Paul, an optometrist.
Because Sen. Rand Paul also carries the title of “doctor” ahead of his name, he considers himself some sort of medical expert. However, in Tuesday’s Fauci vs Paul showdown, Dr. Fauci was forced to school the young doctor and shut Rand Paul down with a quickness.
During a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill, a discussion emerged regarding the origins of the coronavirus. Sen. Paul insisted that the National Institutes of Health played a role in funding research that led to the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic at the Wuhan Institute of Virology — and Dr. Fauci emphatically disagreed.
“Sen. Paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly. And I want to say that officially,” Dr. Fauci said on the record.
Paul countered the good doctor by asking if he “wish[ed] to retract” a May 11th statement claiming that the NIH did not fund such research.
“Sen. Paul, I have never lied before the Congress, and I do not retract that statement,” Fauci told Paul. He then added that the research in question “was judged by qualified staff up and down the chain as not being gain of function.”
The Fauci vs Paul fireworks continued with Sen. Paul continuing to suggest the NIH was responsible for funding such research and that Dr. Fauci was “trying to obscure responsibility for 4 million people dying around the world from a pandemic.”
“I totally resent the lie that you are now propagating, senator,” Fauci barked. “If you look at the viruses that were used in the experiments that were given in the annual reports that were published in the literature, it is molecularly impossible,” Fauci told Paul.
“If anybody is lying here senator, it is you,” Fauci concluded.
Ouch!
In case you missed it live, take a look at the verbal boxing match below.
In this corner is Dr. Anthony Fauci, a world-renowned immunologist, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the preeminent infectious disease expert of our generation.
And, in this corner is Republican Senator, Dr. Rand Paul, an optometrist.
Lol Those first words said it all. Rand Paul needs to go sit down somewhere.