Dr. Anthony Fauci is a man who enjoys – if that’s the right word – two entirely different reputations, depending upon whom one asks. To Democrats and most people on the political left, it seems he is something of a hero, an infallible medical expert who has guided the United States through almost two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. To most Republicans and conservatives, Fauci is a joke, a fraud, and perhaps something far more sinister. Recently, finding himself on the receiving end of more tongue-lashings from Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Tom Cotton of Arkansas – all Republicans – the good doctor finally revealed his hand by wading into politics.
Dr. Anthony Fauci
(Photo by Al Drago – Pool/Getty Images)
This particular Rubicon was crossed after Cruz pointed out that lying to lawmakers during a hearing was a criminal offence and suggested the Department of Justice “should consider prosecuting [Dr. Fauci] for making false statements to Congress.” During a Nov. 28 interview on CBS’ Face the Nation, Fauci was asked to respond to the senator’s statement. “I have to laugh at that,” the doctor said. “I should be prosecuted? What happened on Jan. 6, senator?”
And, with that apparently rhetorical question, there is no going back for Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser. The events of Jan. 6 had nothing to do with the COVID pandemic or any other public health issue. The fact that Fauci clearly implied Cruz should be prosecuted for supporting – or at least for not condemning – the pro-Trump demonstration on Capitol Hill that day puts him firmly on one political side.
Now that his loyalties have been established, Fauci’s every word and action, from this point on, must be viewed through a political lens as much as through a scientific one – if this wasn’t the case already.
The Arbitrary ‘Lying to Congress’ Law
According to the United States Code, lying to Congress is indeed a felony, but it has been true for perhaps decades that certain people can get away with being dishonest during congressional hearings, depending on the circumstances and on what side of the political divide the individual in question stands.
Ted Cruz
(Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
To what was Cruz – along with Paul and Cotton – referring? During a hearing on May 11 of this year, Fauci asserted “… the [National Institutes of Health] has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” Yet, in a letter to Representative James Comer (R-KY), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, the NIH admitted it had funded a “limited” gain-of-function experiment conducted at the Chinese lab. Other documents that have since come to light appear to quite clearly show Fauci’s claim was deceptive.
While his personal political ideology remains undefined, it would be difficult for anybody to deny Fauci appears decidedly more aligned with the left. Why is this a fair assumption? Because the epidemiologist has always made it clear that the government and its public health agencies should not concern themselves with matters of individual liberty and choice but should dictate to the public what is supposedly in its best interests.
I Am Science
Fauci wields the word “science” like a shield against all critics and doubters. During the same Face the Nation interview, he made a claim so remarkable – and so soaked in jaw-dropping arrogance – that any rational person should seriously question the man’s sanity. Addressing his ongoing conflicts with Republican lawmakers, Fauci said:
“Anybody who’s looking at this carefully realizes that there’s a distinct anti-science flavor to this, so if they get up and criticize science, nobody’s going to know what they’re talking about. But if they get up and really aim their bullets at Tony Fauci, well people can recognize that there’s a person there, so it’s easy to criticize, but they’re really criticizing science because I represent science.”
Read that again. The quote is accurate. There is no missing context. The doctor has proclaimed himself the embodiment of science. Paul was rightly stunned by Fauci’s claim. “The absolute hubris of someone claiming THEY represent science,” the senator wrote on Twitter later that day. “It’s astounding and alarming that a public health bureaucrat would even think to claim such a thing, especially one who has worked so hard to ignore the science of natural immunity.”
One could argue that claiming to represent science – a vast field of study that is ever-developing and that, in its entirety, defines the physical universe in which we live – is akin to saying, “I am science,” which is no less grandiose, ambitious, and delusional than asserting, “I am God.” Should a man who regards himself this way really be dictating America’s public health policy?
~ Read more from Graham J. Noble.
