Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed threats made against his life on Monday while testifying at a House subcommittee hearing about the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the virus’s origins.
Fauci, who was the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and former White House chief medical adviser, touched on several topics during his hearing on Capitol Hill, saying that the country still needs to be better prepared for another possible health crisis.
Fauci said that in “some respects” we are better positioned, “but in others, I am still disappointed.”
Among the issues leaving us exposed is what Fauci said was a “disconnect between the healthcare system and the public health system.”
The example he touched on was the CDC’s access to local agencies’ information, which created a lag in sharing data, meaning experts weren’t always viewing correct and up-to-date data.
The former top doc also touched on the origins of the virus, saying that there were “certain issues that have been seriously distorted concerning me.”
“The accusation being circulated that I influenced the scientists to change their minds by bribing them with millions of dollars in grant money is absolutely false and simply preposterous,” Fauci said.
He did note that he had no input on the content of a paper published in March 2020 that proposed possible answers to where and how the virus originated.
“I cannot account nor can anyone account for other things that might be going on in China, which is the reason why I have always said and will say now, I keep an open mind as to what the origin is,” Fauci said Monday.
Fauci then went on to discuss the fallout from the pandemic that resulted in him and his family receiving death threats.
“Everything from harassments from emails, texts, letters of myself, my wife, my three daughters. There have been credible death threats leading to the arrest of two individuals – and credible death threats means someone who clearly was on their way to kill me. And it’s required my having protective services essentially all the time,” Fauci said when asked to describe the threats.
Later in the hearing, Fauci was met with an aggressive line of questioning from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA, who refused to refer to him as a doctor.
“Do you think that’s appropriate? Do the American people deserve to be abused like that, Mr. Fauci? Because you’re not ‘Dr.,’ you’re ‘Mr. Fauci’ in my few minutes,” Greene said while questioning Fauci. “No, I don’t need your answer.”
Eventually, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), the chair of the subcommittee, reprimanded Greene, saying, “The gentlelady will suspend.” He then instructed her to recognize Fauci as a doctor.
Fauci discussed the altercation while appearing on CNN on Monday night, saying it was out of the ordinary.
“So that’s the reason why I’m still getting death threats when you have performances like that unusual performance by Marjorie Taylor Greene in today’s hearing,” Fauci said.