Senator Rand Paul popped a massive bullseye on the pandemic doctor, Anthony Fauci after the White House staffer took off for retirement ahead of the GOP’s rise in power. The GOP will assume the majority in the House in January, so naturally, Dr. Fauci is getting the heck of dodge—He has no friends on the right and with his buddies on the left losing power, the doctor is obviously scared.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) retiring director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is the subject of ongoing investigations by the Republican leadership, specifically concerning his role in the COVID-19 pandemic’s origins.
Paul, who has regularly blasted Fauci, made an appearance on “America Reports” to discuss his ongoing search for transparency and accountability.
“We’re not done with him yet,” Paul said. “I think Dr. Fauci actually made one of the worst judgments in modern medical history by funding for over a decade of dangerous gain-of-function research, which many of us believe leaked from the lab, inadvertently.”
In order to develop preventative treatments for fatal diseases, gain-of-function research frequently requires purposely altering viruses to make them more hazardous or communicable. According to Senate Republicans, coronavirus research in Wuhan—which Fauci disputes—could be to blame for an outbreak at the facility that results in a pandemic over the world.
In order to “assess the potential risks and benefits,” the Obama administration put a halt to new funding for gain-of-function research in 2014. The NIH, however, began it again in 2017.
In a letter sent to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy in November, five Republican senators demanded a new pause on gain-of-function research, stating that it is vital to more thoroughly evaluate its risks in light of the pandemic.
“For the past decade, [Fauci’s] been an advocate of gain-of-function research. This debate started around 2010. He came down as a firm advocate for publishing this dangerous research and continuing to fund it,” Paul told co-anchor Sandra Smith.
“And this was a really, really bad mistake in judgment, and it may well have led to the deaths of 6 million people.”
According to government documents obtained by The Intercept, the NIH during Fauci’s tenure at the NIAID funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“It does connect Dr. Fauci to the origins of the pandemic. His support for this type of research without sufficient controls, without sufficient background and vetting of the projects, may well have led to one of the greatest man-made catastrophes in modern history,” Paul said.
“He should apologize to the American people, but he should start telling the truth. He’s been lying from the beginning.”