Dr. Anthony Fauci does not “understand what the problem is” with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) following several heated exchanges with him.
CBS host Gayle King asked Fauci on Thursday how he felt about his exchanges with Paul.
“You know, Gayle, I just don’t want to get into that tit for tat. I just don’t understand what the problem is with him. Well, I’m just going to do my job and he can do what he wants to do and we’ll see what happens,” Fauci said.
Watch Fauci’s comments below:
The @CDCgov has cleared the way for 12 to 15 year olds to get Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, which means adolescents will be able to get the shot nationwide.
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 13, 2021
Dr. Anthony Fauci joins us now to explain. pic.twitter.com/VLkNV0Rd67
Fauci and Paul clashed during a Senate hearing on Tuesday over whether the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research at the Wuhan Virology Institute and where the virus originated, as IJR reported.
Paul asked Fauci, “Do you still support funding … of the lab in Wuhan?”
The health expert responded, “Senator Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect that the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain of function research in the Wuhan institute.”
After Paul suggested Fauci supports “gain of function research,” Fauci fired back, “I don’t favor gain of function research. You are saying things that are not correct.”
Growing frustrated, Fauci explained, “We have not funded gain of function research on this virus in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. No matter how many times you say it, it didn’t happen.”
The senator vented about the exchange on Twitter, writing, “Dr Fauci dissembled or tried to hide his long time support for ‘gain-of-function’ research which creates super-viruses that jump from animals to humans. 11 labs in the US create these super-viruses in the US and one of them collaborated with Wuhan Virology Inst — Fauci has supported NIH funds for all these labs!”
