Dr. Anthony Fauci is firing back at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for suggesting that he should be prosecuted for allegedly lying to Congress.
During an interview on CBS’ “Face The Nation” that aired on Sunday, host Margaret Brennan noted Cruz told Attorney General Merrick Garland that the infectious disease expert should be prosecuted.
Fauci laughed, then responded, “I have to laugh at that. I should be prosecuted?”
“What happened on Jan. 6, senator?” he asked.
His comment refers to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the building and interrupted lawmakers as they were certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Cruz was one of several lawmakers who supported challenging the election results from several states.
Watch the video below:
Dr. Fauci on Ted Cruz saying he should be prosecuted: "I should be prosecuted? What happened on January 6, senator?"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 28, 2021
And on Republicans scapegoating him: "That's okay. I'm just gonna do my job, and I'm gonna be saving lives, and they're gonna be lying." pic.twitter.com/fJm1Hh8lSJ
Brennan asked, “Do you think that this is about making you a scapegoat to deflect from President Trump?”
“Of course, you have to be asleep, not figure that one out,” Fauci responded.
When the host noted that several Republican senators have taken aim at him, Fauci said, “That’s OK. I’m just gonna do my job, and I’m gonna be saving lives, and they’re gonna be lying.”
He continued:
“All I want to do is save peoples lives. I mean, 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 there’s a person there.”
Finally, Fauci said, “It’s easy to criticize. But they’re really criticizing science because I represent science. That’s dangerous. To me, that’s more dangerous than the slings and the arrows that get thrown at me. And if you damage science, you a doing something very detrimental to society long after I leave.”
Cruz reacted to Fauci’s comments as he tweeted, “Fauci is an unelected technocrat who has distorted science and facts in order to exercise authoritarian control over millions of Americans. He lives in a liberal world where his smug ‘I REPRESENT science’ attitude is praised.”
Fauci is an unelected technocrat who has distorted science and facts in order to exercise authoritarian control over millions of Americans.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 28, 2021
He lives in a liberal world where his smug “I REPRESENT science” attitude is praised.
Here are the facts:
He proceeded to share what he said was evidence that Fauci lied to Congress. He noted Fauci said the National Insitutes of of Health (NIH) did not fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China.
However, Cruz pointed out that NIH said it did fund research into whether “spike proteins from naturally occurring bat coronaviruses circulating in China were capable of binding to the human ACE2 receptor in a mouse model.”
(2) On October 20, NIH wrote they funded an experiment at the Wuhan lab testing if “spike proteins from naturally occurring bat coronaviruses circulating in China were capable of binding to the human ACE2 receptor in a mouse model.” That is gain of function research.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 28, 2021
Finally, he wrote, “No amount of ad hominem insults parroting Democrat talking points will get Fauci out of this contradiction. Fauci either needs to address the substance — in detail, with specific factual corroboration — or DOJ should consider prosecuting him for making false statements to Congress.”
