Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has been outspoken in his criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci, accusing him of lying to Congress and having the incendiary testimony used to censor Americans from engaging in the COVID-19 debate. Paul asked Fauci on July 29, via tweet, “Do you still claim NIH never funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan?” Fauci replied, per a tweet from Philip Wegmann of RealClearPolitics, claiming that he had “never lied before Congress.”
Even with that, Fauci’s emails, obtained from February 2020, showed a different story. The emails cited knowledge of Wuhan “gain-of-function experiments to determine the molecular mechanisms associated with bat viruses adapting to human infection.” These emails not only proved that Fauci indeed lied to Congress, but have been used to silence conservative voices attempting to discuss Fauci’s actions.
Paul didn’t mince words after receiving this information, and took steps to hold Fauci accountable. “This directly contradicts everything he said in committee hearing to me, denying absolutely that they funded any gain of function, and it’s absolutely a lie,” Paul tweeted. “That’s why I sent an official criminal referral to the DOJ.”
Don Schneider, Vice President of MRC Free Speech America, noted how Fauci’s actions are contrary to the freedom of speech intended by the First Amendment. “The whole purpose of the First Amendment is to protect controversial speech, to protect speech about policy debates, speech that runs contrary to the government’s narrative,” said Schneider.
Unfortunately, Big Tech companies used Fauci’s compromised testimony to censor Americans seeking to express their views on the origins of COVID-19. In particular, Senator Paul himself was censored by YouTube for contradicting Fauci’s opinion on the effectiveness of masking and MRCTV was censored by TikTok for discussing Fauci’s attempts to insult Paul during a hearing.
Moreover, Climate Change Dispatch saw their Twitter account temporarily suspended when they posted an article about Fauci’s emails, saying “It Turns Out Dr. Fauci Also Knew Masks Weren’t Effective Against COVID-19.” And MRCTV’S Reality Check was fact-checked on Facebook for questioning Fauci’s comments.
It’s troubling that Democrats rely on underhanded tactics to silence their opponents and censor conservative views. It’s time we hold Big Tech and our government agencies accountable for their abuses of the First Amendment and Dr. Fauci should not get away with this blatant lie that is costing American their voices. We must defend our freedom of speech and combat attempts to stifle conservative discourse.