Stephen A Smith: Did Fauci LIE to Us All? Rand Paul's Pursuit of COVID’s True Origins

Well, if I become a punching bag, I'm a punching bag.But I am very happy to testify before any Congressional Oversight Committee.I have nothing to hide.I have, I can explain and validate everything that I've done.So, you know, it's going to be inconvenient if they actually are out there essentially threatening to make my life miserable.But it's, I mean, I'm going to do what I need to do, and that is cooperate fully because we have nothing to hide at all.

In the red folder on your table is a copy of Section 192 of Title II of the U .S.Code.Your counsel has been provided a copy as well.That section makes it a crime for a witness appearing under subpoena to refuse to answer any questions pertinent to the question under inquiry.Do you have that in front of you?

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

Let the record record that the witness has refused to answer whether there's a folder in front of him based on his Fifth Amendment right.

What's up, everybody?Welcome to this special edition of Straight Shooter with George Truly.I don't know if y 'all saw it or not, but did you see Anthony Fauci?Remember him?Remember Anthony Fauci, who was overseeing the National Institute of Health?Remember that man?

Remember the man that was basically the face of the nation when it came to the coronavirus pandemic that took place in this country in 2020, 2021?Remember that?That man.He was on Capitol Hill yesterday and the story is that the man took the fifth, exercised his fifth amendment privileges 111 times, 111 times.It was so bad on Capitol Hill.yesterday as Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday.

It was so bad that Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri asked him about the tie he was wearing.I think he asked him about his suit as well or something, just to showcase how he's not answering anything.111 times Anthony Fauci said, through the advice of my attorneys, I'm exercising my Fifth Amendment rights as a citizen of the United States of America, 111 times.It was a bad look, ladies and gentlemen.It was a bad look.And I found myself vacillating back and forth between two kinds of emotions.

One, I found myself saying, let's not try to politicize this because I saw the GOP, the Republicans, really, really going after him.And I didn't see a peak from the Democratic Party, which I will get into a little bit later.But on the other hand, I was like, bump that.If there was ever a point, there was ever a moment in time where the American people had a right to know the truth and to hear it out of the mouth of one particular individual, it was yesterday on Capitol Hill.And it should have been oozing out of the mouth of Dr. Anthony Fauci.111 times, this man exercised his fifth amendment rights.

And keep in mind, this is the same man that received the presidential pardon.President Joe Biden for any actions that took place starting in January of 2014 to January of 2025.Anything and everything that Anthony Fauci did overseeing the National Institute of Health, he was pardoned for, which means that he had, in a lot of people's eyes, no fear of federal prosecution.Now, that's not to say that there's no fear at all, because that doesn't protect you from the states.which the state of Florida, led by Ron DeSantis, is already conducting its own investigation.And you know other states are going to come down the pipe.

But make no mistake about it, you should have heard something.And we didn't.And as a result, this story is not going away.You can bet the House on that.Not after what we saw yesterday.And in just a few minutes, I'm going to have Senator Rand Paul, who heads the committee, probing into all of Dr. Anthony Fauci's actions as it pertains to the coronavirus pandemic.

which is a pandemic that ravaged the world, that allowed us to witness the loss of over 1 .2 million American lives, supposedly over 7 million worldwide, or more than 14 .9 million worldwide, depending on what stats you believe.This was bad.Make no mistake about it.It was a bad look by Dr. Anthony Fauci, because even my man Chris Cuomo on NewsNation articulated it.And we know he loves Dr. Anthony Fauci, knows Dr. Anthony Fauci.He even said he looked like he had something to hide.

And somewhere along the lines, we'll get into that with Senator Rand Paul in just a second.But I'm just going to read you some notes, some factual notes about the GOP's case against Dr. Anthony Fauci.As I told you, more than 1 .2 million Americans died from COVID -19.Worldwide, more than 7 million deaths were officially reported.The World Health Organization estimates approximately 14 .9 million excess deaths.in 2020 and 2021 alone.

Republicans swore at the death toll.This enormous demands full transparency about U .S.funded research, COVID's origin, and the government's response, which is why Anthony Fauci taking the fifth is so alarming.Now remember, this is the same man that was appearing last night or yesterday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.This is the same man that was going on national TV telling folks he has no problem testifying.

before any committees.Look at this right here.

Well, if I become a punching bag, I'm a punching bag.But I am very happy to testify before any congressional oversight committee.I have nothing to hide.I can explain.and validate everything that I've done.So, you know, it's going to be inconvenient if they actually are out there essentially threatening to make my life miserable.

But it's I mean, I'm going to do what I need to do.And that is cooperate fully because we have nothing to hide at all.

Yet that's the same man that says, I'm taking my I'm exercising my Fifth Amendment rights more than about one hundred percent.times.Invoke the fifth amendment 111 times.Says here, Senator Rand Paul's according to my research says Fauci's blanket refusal is especially difficult to justify because president Biden pardoned him for possible federal offenses connected to his government service from January of 2014 through January 19th of 2025.Two days before Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States.Rand Paul has announced the committee vote on holding Fauci in contempt of Congress will take place.

Why?Because you're impeding the investigation.This is the immediate legal issue.Contempt, not an automatic obstruction charge, by the way.But what's in question, what about the Wuhan money trail?Ladies and gentlemen, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases or NIAID was led by Fauci and is part of the National Institutes of Health.

The NIH and I aid awarded money to the American nonprofit eco health alliance or echo health.ECO Health.They were sent approximately or rather they sent approximately $599 ,000 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology between 2014 and 2019 for bat coronavirus research.The government accountability office, the GOA identified approximately $1 .4 million in total American funded sub awards to the Wuhan laboratory between 2014 and 2021.That large number includes funding connected to both the NIH and the United States Agency for International Development or USAID.Republicans wanted to know why American tax dollars supported coronavirus experiments in China and why oversight was so weak.

There's this thing called gain of function.Essentially, you're testing things for ultimately human experimentation.May of 2021, Fauci told the Senate that the NIH had never funded gain of function research at the Wuhan laboratory.Gain of function basically is a broad term for experiments that give a virus new or enhanced traits, subsequently to be used on humans.Republicans point to National Institute of Health funded Wuhan experiments that altered bat coronaviruses and produced viruses with different characteristics.Fauci and the NIH relied on a narrower regulatory definition.

According to reports, Republicans accused Fauci of using that narrow definition to give Congress a misleading answer about what taxpayers were actually funding.And so they want to know the whole truth.Did Fauci tell Congress the whole truth or hide behind semantics?COVID's origin.Republicans say Fauci publicly discounted a possible laboratory origin while privately treating it as a serious possibility.Early emails in Fauci's diary.

The man kept a diary, ladies and gentlemen.The man kept a diary.Man, 85 years old.At the time, he was in his 80s.He was keeping a diary.Grown -ass man in his 80s, keeping a diary.

I wonder why.But that's neither here nor there.Early emails in Fauci's diary show that scientists discuss both natural and laboratory -related explanations.Republicans.are focused on Fauci's involvement in the discussions preceding the scientific paper known as Proximal Origin.That paper argued that the virus was not laboratory engineered.

So Republicans want to know whether Fauci helped steer scientists toward that conclusion and why the uncertaintyprivately was not clearly communicated publicly.But the biggest incrimination is Fauci's diary, because the Republicans got a hold of it.They got a hold of the man's diary.And by the way, just so we know, let me pause on my diatribe, on my monologue here, by saying this.Ladies and gentlemen, the day has ended.

where we got to get over this notion of things being deleted.Nothing's deleted.You can try to delete it all you want to.Whether it's the FBI or anybody or any other internal administration representing the United States of America, technology is so advanced, nothing dies anymore.That's just a lesson for all of us to know.Stuff don't die.

If they want to get a hold of something, they're going to get a hold of something.You can book it.But back to Dr. Fauci's diary.It shows his private record different from his public stories.Fauci later said, I didn't recommend locking anything down.But here's what his diary says, according to the Republicans.

He convinced New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio at the time to close schools.Ladies and gentlemen, I was in New York.I'll be damned if that wasn't true.That's true.That's true right there.It says here in his diary, he recommended closing bars and restaurants.

We've heard Fauci himself talk about that, so we know that's true.It says here he advised de Blasio to proceed with shelter in place plans.It says here he supported extending federal restrictions from 15 to 30 days.And here's the biggest one too.Later supported a proposed shutdown in Los Angeles, California.We damn sure know that was true.

Republicans say the diary directly contradicts Fauci's denial.The diary also revealed a previously undisclosed medical episode.Fauci received a second Moderna vaccine.on January 19th, 2021.Yet approximately five months later, after experiencing sudden chest pains, he had a CT scan.Doctors initially feared lung cancer.

Further examination reportedly identified a pulmonary infarction, damage to the lung tissue generally associated with interrupted blood flow.So here's what Republicans wanted to know.Was the episode investigated as a possible vaccine -related event?Was it reported through the government's vaccine safety system?Did Fauci discuss it with NIH officials?And why did the public learn about it only through his diary, but not himself, while he was telling everybody else to take the vaccine and to take the booster shots?

Emails and federal records previously denied the leading official records, that is Fauci.Rand Paul later released emails in which Fauci told colleagues to delete particular messages after reading them.And all the while, while this was happening, yesterday, we only saw Republicans getting at Dr. Fauci.The Democrats, number crickets.Outside of Senator John Fetterman, who they say really not a Democrat, I'm not getting at all of that.Here's what I do know.

When you talk about Democratic officials and how them and their allies made Fauci practically untouchable, are we going to deny that that was true?Are we going to deny that that was true?Because I'm here to tell you, I'd be damned if it wasn't.But I'll explain that part a little bit later on in the show.For now, it's time to get to our next guest.He's a senator representing the great state of Kentucky.

He's been on this show before, and he's back here again right now.Please welcome Senator Rand Paul to the show, who has been an incessant critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci throughout this whole coronavirus pandemic ordeal.He has not shied away from calling to the carpet, calling Rand Paul to the carpet.He's a doctor by profession, by the way, not just a senator.Let's welcome Senator Rand Paul to the show.Hello, sir, how are you?

Thanks for having me.Glad to be with you.

Put into perspective what transpired yesterday with this hearing involving Dr. Anthony Fauci.He is, he was subpoenaed.He did show up, but he, he took the fifth.He pled the fifth amendment 111 times.Number one, did you expect that?And if so, why?

You know, we weren't certain.We thought it might happen, but I didn't know until that moment that he wasn't going to testify.I really did want him to testify and still want some questions to be answered.You know, the most important question is, should the taxpayer fund research where we take an animal virus and mutate it to become a human virus?We basically create a new virus that doesn't exist in nature and we have the ability to do it.Scientifically, we can replace a virus.

Gene by gene.In 2010, they took the bird flu and they replaced eight genes, but they made it transmissible through the air, aerosolized it between mammals, and it wasn't before.I think it makes no sense.The bird flu is about 50 % deadly.If you make it more transmissible to humans, like what we think happened with COVID -19, it would be a death wish for the world.I mean, it spreads very rapidly, respiratory virus, very deadly.

But the reason we don't, while we don't have a pandemic right now,with the bird flu, is it doesn't go human to human.We think COVID -19 started out going human to human so quickly is because it was modified in the lab.It was pre -adapted to go human to human.And they do this interestingly with mice that have human lungs.I know that sounds kind of science fiction, but they've created mice that are basically human.

When the virus looks at the lung cells, They are human and they just culture this thing over and over.It's called serial passage until they get a virus that can infect humans.And it's a terrible thing.And Fauci knew all along what they were doing.In his private notes, he says, we suspect they might've manipulated because we know they do gain of function research.He says this in private, but then in public, he says, oh, it came from nature.

And that if you think otherwise, you're a conspiracy theorist.So I wish he had answered the questions.

He has served, Dr. Fauci we're talking about here, he's been in a lot of people's eyes he's a career civil servant who spent 38 years at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.They think about his years of service and yet at the age of 85 having retired he's on Capitol Hill and it seemed as if you had politicians up there who wanted him in jail and he has said he has called your pursuit of him an unhinged obsession and that you want him in jail.Speak to that for a second and whether or not what your feelings are about him at this particular moment in time and what they have been since the pandemic took place years ago so everybody will understand.

My questions, I think, have all been very serious.A million Americans died, about 15 million people died worldwide.Where did this come from?What is the evidence for the lab?What is the evidence for it coming from the wet market?So the other thing we learned recently from their investigation that I led was that in January of 2020, at the very beginning, he was told that the

earliest cases did not come from the wet market.He acknowledges it and he says that the wet market was likely a super spreader.It didn't originate there.It wasn't from the wild animals at the wet market.That was a super spreader event.So he knew this in January of 2020.

But you've seen him on the media.For the last five years, he continues to say, it came from the wet market.It came from the wet market.The wet market's a problem.We need to ban and close the wet market.Why?

Now, if you were just a disinterested scientist that didn't have anything to gain, you'd say, well, he's just being honest.That's his opinion.Why condemn him?But what if you also know that he funded the lab that it came from?Would he have a self -interest in protecting himself by arguing it came from nature?So he's not a disinterested observer.

He's not an objective person.He's a person who, if it came from the lab, would share responsibility.So he had every reason to hide and cover up, and that's why his statements in private are diametrically opposite of his statements in public.

What about the notion that he could just say, listen, we were in pursuit of something.We made a mistake and move forward.I mean, it would seem like, you know, I hate to put it this way, but science is not an exact science.I mean, there's a lot of imperfections that come along with it.You're not just a senator.You're a medical professional.

A lot of people don't realize that they don't know this about you.You're a medical professional.And so when you look at it for a doctor, so when you look at it from that standpoint, it's not perfect.imperfections come along with this line of work, one could easily argue.Why couldn't Fauci just acknowledge that and move on?

I was open yesterday and still am open to an apology and that he wants to modify his point of view.The problem is this, this didn't start in 2020.This really starts in at least 2010.So he funded research in the Netherlands to mutate the avian flu in 2010.This is when the controversy began.I wasn't part of this controversy.

I really wasn't even aware of this until 2021.But the controversy raged in the scientific community.A group of scientists led by a scientist at MIT started the Cambridge Working Group, and they criticized the publication of this because they said, if you publish this mutation and how you did it, it'll be a roadmap for bioweapons.And every lunatic out there that has the skills to do this will now have a roadmap map as to create biological weapons.So they argued that it shouldn't be published and it shouldn't be funded.Well, Anthony Fauci argued in 2010, this is way before the pandemic.

This isn't like he made a mistake in the pandemic.He had a philosophic belief that this research was good.So he writes an op -ed in the Washington Post.And in that, he says that even if a scientist is bitten, even if a pandemic escapes from a lab, the knowledge is worth the risks.Now, that's a philosophic position.I don't think he wants to back away.

He could back away from that, but he didn't decide in 2020 to do this.He decided back in 2010.The funding of the lab in Wuhan begins in 2014.It's not a coincidence that his pardon starts in 2014 and goes forward because that's when the lab began being funded, but he philosophically agrees with this.This isn't just me speaking.There's a scientist at Stanford by the name of David Relman.

He has classified clearance.He's advised the government.He understands this science as well as Anthony Fauci or better.He looked at this experiment that Anthony Fauci funded in the Netherlands on the bird flu to juice up the bird flu, and he said it never should have happened and it never should have been published.So like I say, this debate has raged for 10 years.It was outside the circle of, you know, the news like you and I talk about,

or even what I was interested in.It was outside the circle until a pandemic occurred.And then some people say, oh, it could never happen.This is just crazy.It still could have been nature.Well, this isn't the first time.

In 1977, There was a Russian flu, it was an influenza.And they're not positive exactly where it started, but they were able to sequence it.So they looked at the DNA sequence or RNA sequence of this influenza virus from 1977.You know what they discovered?It was identical to a virus in 1954.Well, how could that be possible?

Because viruses mutate a little bit every month, and something that originated in 54 would be 20 or 30 % different by the time you get to 1977.It was identical.And the conclusion was it had to have gotten out of a lab and they had vaccines for this virus.There were a handful of labs that had it and somebody was working with it and it got infected or infected somebody or an animal bit somebody and it got out of a lab.It went worldwide.The reason you haven't heard about it or probably haven't heard about it is it had no death rate.

It was a, it was a influenza and maybe somebody died, but it wasn't like COVID where millions of people died.But these accidents happen.Labs are not.perfect.But you add to this that this happened in China where their labs were not at the level of our labs.Their labs had never been inspected.

Anthony Fauci was asked, did your laboratory inspectors go to China before you sent the money?You knew they were doing dangerous research there.Did you go and inspect their lab?Did you ask them and ascertain what kind of experiments they were doing?So this isn't about, look, I didn't even know who Anthony Fauci was before 2020.I know he'd been prominent in certain circles here, but I just didn't know who he was.

When he first came before him, I had nothing against him.I still have nothing against him personally.But I do think that there has to be responsibility for who makes the decisions on funding.whether it's dangerous or not.And if he's still not willing to admit it's dangerous, then what if his friends and his colleagues are in charge again and they start funding this?

Let me go back to the NIH in this regard.NIH funded gain of function research in Wuhan, obviously.Fauci says the definition didn't apply.Who gets to decide which definition is correct?Scientists, Congress, a jury, who?How do you answer that question, Senator Paul?

Well, I think it's a great question, and I think the people should, through their representatives.And it does get specifically handed down to other people.But here's the thing on gain of function, whether it was or wasn't.You can have a semantics debate, and we can have the debate.But the interesting thing is EcoHealth, which was the, collector of the money that was working with the scientists in Wuhan, they write when their funding gets turned back on.It was turned off temporarily.

When it gets turned back on, they write the NIH, say, thank you for turning back on our gain of function research money.They're acknowledging it is.In a subject headline in an email from Anthony Fauci's assistant, I think it's from Fauci to his assistant, he has in the subject line, gain of function research in Wuhan, and he lists the research project that in public he says wasn't gain of function.I think we get lost in the semantics of the argument because the science will get us all jumbled up.Was it dangerous or was it not dangerous?Should it have been funded?

That's the real question.Did it meet a precise definition?he might be able to make some argument that it met a precise definition.But the real question is, was it dangerous?Was it a lab that was sort of a cowboy rogue lab in China, in a country that's very opaque, doesn't always tell us the truth, and is known for withholding the facts?Yeah.

And so I think really, if we get away from the semantics, we just argue, was it dangerous or wasn't it?Should it have been funded or wasn't it?Were there other scientists saying we shouldn't fund it?Yeah, there's many, many esteemed scientists saying we should have never funded this research at Wuhan.

We've only got a few minutes left because I know you've got to go.I deeply appreciate your time.When we talk about the funding, how much was spent?by our taxpayer, with our taxpayer dollars towards this lab and this research?

So millions of dollars went to the research project.Some of it was spent at the UNC in North Carolina, and then some of it was spent in Wuhan.At least a sub -grant of $600 ,000 went to Wuhan, but another $600 ,000 also went to a veterinary lab very close.And that's the thing.You remember when Jon Stewart said, well, You know, there is that coincidence.It is the Wuhan virus.

And there's this lab called the Wuhan Institute of Virology.There's so many coronaviruses in Wuhan and in China.That's where the biggest repository is in the world.It's hard to explain that coincidence.In fact, the researcher from UNC, Ralph Baric, he said, and he's been quoted as saying this, well, the proximity, the proximity is a problem.The closeness of this lab to where it started, it just would be an incredible coincidence that you get a pandemic in the same city that has the largest library of coronaviruses.

Last question to you.I saw Senator Howley, obviously he was all over Fauci in terms of Fauci becoming a celebrity and enjoying it.You, through Fauci's attorney, had security remove Fauci's attorney from the hearing because they weren't supposed to be there.It was actually sit in the second row, be quiet, et cetera.And they tried to invoke themselves, and you certainly weren't having that.Senator Moreno really, really went off on Fauci.

And then I sawLevin on TMZ compared this to McCarthyism.They're saying he's 85 years of age, 38 years of public service minimum.Could have easily done a lot of different things, but chose to serve this country in an upstanding way.That's their position.Where does this all sit right now?

When we look at a man 85 years of age, hardly called for charges of obstruction of justice.Obviously, the state of Florida is now after him.They're talking about an investigation.Other states may join in.Where does all of this end, Senator Paul?And how righteous do you believe this situation is right now in terms of everybody aiming their attention?

at Anthony Fauci.

I've always been more interested in the truth than any kind of prosecution.I'm not against prosecution, but I'm more interested in the truth.I would have accepted and really commended if he would have come and apologized, or even now, if he were to make a public pronouncement saying, you know, I made a mistake.It was a judgment call.There are debates on both sides of this.This debate has raged for 15 years on gain of function.

But given that there's a chance that this pandemic came from the lab and from funding that I sent to this lab that I'm acknowledging that I made a mistake.That would be huge.But we all make mistakes, but it's a matter of accepting that because going forward, if he keeps denying that it happened and that he has any responsibility for it, then it engenders all of this.But there were just so many things said in private.I mean, you remember being told not to go to Thanksgiving, not to celebrate Thanksgiving, They're celebrating.He's having dinner with celebrities the same time he's telling you not to celebrate.

He's telling his friends they don't need to wear a mask because we've studied this and the masks don't work.And then he's wearing three masks.So I don't know.People have to judge whether they think this issomething that's a vendetta that I've come up with or whether it's serious.I mean, the thing that argued for it being serious is a million Americans died.

15 million people died.And it's not me saying that this came from the lab.We have Now, hundreds of scientists, the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Energy, Department of Energy may have some of our best government scientists.They looked at this early on and came to the conclusion it came from the lab.So, I don't know.I think it needs to be treated seriously.

I still think we need legislation that looks at gain of function and says, this group of scientists, not me, not a politician, a group of scientists look at all of our experiments.We think that there's still secret research going on from our government, particularly on monkeypox, that is gain of function research that they will not tell me about.I mean, we don't have representative people always saying, oh, democracy is under attack.Well, it certainly is if your representatives aren't allowed to know about what your government's doing.It's one thing that people not knowing, but then you've elected people who are not being told.We think there's experiments.

We've asked about these experiments, and they will not tell me.So I think that it's an ongoing thing.This is what oversight of government is.You've got to fight sometimes with your own government, sometimes with the other party, sometimes with members of both parties opposing you, and I won't be satisfied until we change the U .S.law, but I'd also like to see an international ...

We have an international treaty called the Biological and Chemical Weapons Convention.It's a treaty.The civilized countries of the world have agreed not to have chemical weapons.We've been destroying nerve gas and chemical weapons for a long time.I think that's a good thing.I don't think we should use it, and I don't think civilized countries should.

It's not a guarantee that no other country will, but with regard to biological weapons, I'd like to see more conversations with our allies in Europe, with friendly countriesaround the world.And I think that's a good idea.And that's what I hope will be the final result of all of this.

So you're an advocate of getting to the truth, not necessarily having him in jail.Absolutely.Senator Paul, thank you so much for your time.I really appreciate it.Thank you so much.Last minute, really, really appreciate it.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thanks again to Senator Rand Paul for coming on the show, explaining what he explained.It never hurts to be enlightened.And I think it's important to treat his perspective with the credence it deserves.He doesn't hesitate to call out President Donald Trump when Donald Trump deserves it.And oh, by the way, let's not give him a complete pass in this whole ordeal.Because what are we saying now?

It's the American virus.If it's the American virus, then it wouldn't be the China virus, right?Isn't that what Donald Trump called it at the time?Don't ask me.Don't ask me.Ask China.

China.Remember that?And the Asian reporter's like, why are you looking at me and saying that to me?Well, you asked, you asked.Ask China.That was what President Donald Trump said at the time.

But it's worth pointing that out.Here's the reality of the situation.Dr. Fauci, in my opinion, had no business taking the fifth.It was embarrassing.It came across as him having something to hide.And the last person that I want to have the impression of having something to hide is him.

Do I want him thrown in jail?Absolutely not.That's why I asked Rand Paul that, the Senator Paul, and I appreciate him saying, and it's very, very important that we give Senator Rand Paul credit for this.He said he's not looking to send Fauci to jail.He just wants answers and he wants the truth.That's what he wants.

He's not looking to put him in jail.He's looking to show, listen, own up, man up, admit you made mistakes.Tell us what those mistakes are so we don't have some wannabe out there trying to replicate and duplicate you.actions, thinking that they are untouchable.We don't need that problem.And that gets me to the Democrats.

Because the reality of the situation is this.As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who appeared on Fox News with Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, articulated, when it came to Fauci, who no doubt was connected to the Democratic Party, when it came to some of these mandates that were being handed down.We gotta keep it a buck, y 'all.This ain't about size, political size of the aisle.But, but damn it, if it gets a little political, guess what?It's their damn fault.

Because while he was pleading the fifth 111 times, how come no Democrat got in his ass?Again, he's 85.And when we speak about Dr. Fauci, We will not speak about him with utter disrespect and no regard for the impeccable credentials and the resume accumulated spanning decades.He was at the forefront of the AIDS epidemic, finding the vaccine, finding a cure, making it treatable.He's at the forefront.This nation is indebted to that man for his years of service for what he did.

But that don't make you flawless.It doesn't make you perfect.And there is no question that imperfections Stain him right now.This was not a good day for dr. Fauci.He looks very bad very badAnd yes, through the advice of his lawyers, and yes, your lawyers compare you to do something, and they probably wanted him to plead the fifth on many occasions before he finally relented and did it yesterday.

But the bottom line is, this man held dominions over the lives of a nation, if not the world, with what he was imploring and mandating.Everybody was listening to him.As Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pointed out on Hannity last night, he accused Fauci of misleading the country when it came to masks.Fauci was damn near encouraging us to wear two or three masks at a time.We damn near could breathe.How about the six foot social distancing?

We can't ignore that.Where you get that from?He later admitted that it wasn't backed by science.He's just coming up with this stuff.The lockdowns, the natural immunities, the vaccine's ability to prevent infection and transmission, Fauci's pulmonary infarction following vaccination that he didn't reveal to the public, but he wrote about it in his diary.This is all shady shit.

It is.The Democrats have nothing to say.Wasn't it the Democrats that was enforcing stuff?People lost their jobs.Businesses went out of business.Folks' quality of life was severely compromised.

And we had reached a point in our society where if you even questioned Fauci,as opposed to celebrate him, you were in trouble.Man was appearing on shows.I would know.First take on ESPN, my show, was one of the shows he appeared on.Listen to Dr. Fauci here talking to yours truly, at the time, in 2021, March 11th, 2021, to be exact.

Listen.And when you say normal, Dr. Fauci, specifically, what does that mean?

Because even when I just took my shot the other day, they still said, we're still encouraging you to wear a mask, even if you take your second shot.We're still encouraging you to wear a mask and things of that nature.So when you say normal, can you be specific about what you believe close to normal entails?

Well, what it's going to be is going to be really depending upon where you are and what the level of infection is.So if it's completely normal, that means that you could get on a plane and go to anywhere in the world and not worry about anything and not wear a mask.I don't think that's going to be that way for quite a while.In the United States, approaching normal, where we'll have gradual withdrawal of the need to get to be wearing masks, I think we'll be wearing masks longer than what we would consider normal.It will be, as Max said, kind of a new normal, where we'll be wearing masks under certain circumstances when you're out in the community and not a high percentage of people are vaccinated.If we can get the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated and the level of infection, namely test positivity, is very, very low, then we can start talking about going back from wearing masks.

But right now, even though we're doing well, the baseline of normal, not normal, but the baseline of infections every day is between50 and 60 ,000.That's extremely high.So even though things are getting much better, that's the reason why we still have to be wearing masks.A lot of infections still out in the community.That was Dr. Fauci.

You can't make this up.Why do you think you have people right now going off about him?And if you're the Democrats, how the hell you think it makes you look that you're quiet when you were the one enforcing this stuff?No doubt to politicize it to get Trump out of office, because we have to remember that back at that time, before the coronavirus took hold and sent us indoors and had this nation on lockdown, the economy was perceived as thriving and Trump was cakewalking to a re -election.There is no question that the coronavirus pandemic was utilized to assist the Democrats in getting him out of office.Nobody can deny that.

But we didn't care because it was legitimate.And because he don't know how to act most of the damn time, we weren't losing sleep over it.But it doesn't absolve them from what they were doing to assist in what Fauci was preaching.And a legitimate argument could be made from a political perspective that Fauci might have been forced to take these positions publicly by politicians who saw it as politically expedient for their ultimate goals.Why would I think that?Because yesterday, not a word of them said a word on the other side of the aisle.

Not a damn word, other than John Fetterman.He's a Democrat out of the state of Pennsylvania.He did speak, and here's what he had to say.

It's not about much more your regrets, but I have one.And that is early on that there was the theory that the virus could have emerged from the lab.And early on, that became like a right wing kinds of theory.And I thought it seemed to make sense.Now there was a really advanced lab that was close by.And then you have this unknown virus out.

So, but that became a very partisan thing.And now it seems now it's more and more emerging theory that that would have come from the lab.Now, you know, I hope, I think that the next time our nation's facing something like this, we are not become you know, as I might have been, blinded by the partisan idea that maybe the truth might come from a side that's different than you are.But I think we should really be willing to pursue truth, no matter where that may have emerged, you know, after all of that.

That's fine.But we all know to the Democrats, he's a Democrat in name only.He's a dino, not a rhino, he's a dino.Democrat in name only, because they're disgusted with how often he agrees with the right.But it doesn't make them wrong in this particular situation, because when you look at some of the things that the Democrats were doing, how can we deny it?When the Republicans say Democratic officials and their allies made Fauci practically untouchable, are we going to deny that's true?

When they accuse Democrats of treating Fauci as the embodiment of the science, is that false?No, it's not.Back then, no, it's not.When they accuse Democrats of dismissing the laboratory origin possibility to thethat's not false.When they accuse Democrats of treating legitimate dissent as misinformation, don't get me started with that!

That's damn right a fact!

When they accuse Democrats of defending public health agencies instead of aggressively investigating them, no doubt there are reasons that come along with that reality, but it still happens.When they accuse Democrats of supporting prolonged mandates, closures, and restrictions.New York, LA, come on, y 'all.Come on, y 'all.You know it's true.That's how DeSantis became a household name.

Because DeSantis wouldn't relent.Years earlier to woke culture, and he wouldn't relent to what Fauci was doing.And for the most part, kept businesses thriving in the state of Florida, and you got people exiting other states to move to the state of Florida because they like the way stuff is done.They may not like DeSantis, but they like the climate in Florida.And I ain't just talking about the weather.It's undeniably true that at least at the time, the Democrats were failing to demand accountability for the Wuhan funding and oversight failures.

No doubt, because they didn't want to assist the GOP and the right in any way, and that makes sense.But in the end, you could have spoke up yesterday, and you didn't.And as a result, just when Trump is losing traction because of a war that's still ongoing, and his classless, tasteless tendencies that serve to compromise the GOP and the right on far too many occasions,to count.Stuff like this is revealed.And for the most part, it's about Fauci because he was the scientific professional.

He was the one that was designated as the leader on the coronavirus pandemic, the authority on it all.When you are the authority on something and you are called on Capitol Hill, you can't plead the fifth 111 times.That cannot happen, but it happened yesterday.And it was a very, very bad look.I do not support Anthony Fauci being thrown in jail.I do not support him being viewed as a criminal.

I don't care that he solicited awards for himself and got paid over $900 ,000.I don't care that he was enjoying the celebrity of it all, labeling himself the most popular dude in the country and all of this other stuff, posing poolside with shades on, throwing out first pitches that look worse than mine.I don't care about that.I care about whether he was right or wrong and whether it was intentional or by mistake.what minions he has in his stable who swear by his every word and revere him so much they want to emulate him without him recognizing his imperfections.I do not want him thrown in jail.

I do not want him treated like a criminal.But if he made mistakes, I want to know what those mistakes are.And I want to know who were victimized by it.And I want to know who was prohibited from speaking out about it.And I want to know by whom forced those prohibitions.It's what I want to know.

And I'm sure I'm not alone.That's it for this special edition, Straight Shooter with yours truly.I'll see y 'all in a couple of days, even though I'm on vacation.I just had to let y 'all know what was on my mind.Catch y 'all later.Until next time, peace and love, everybody.