Republicans Call to Fire Dr. Fauci Over Released Emails

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• GOP lawmakers blasted White House chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, after thousands of emails during the early days of the pandemic were made public.
• In early 2020, Fauci received warning messages that the coronavirus had been “engineered” in a Wuhan lab but he dismissed the possibility.
• Sen. Rand Paul, who has clashed with Fauci several times, tweeted “It’s time to fire Fauci!” because he “has been lying.”

GOP lawmakers and other well-known Republicans are calling to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci following the release of thousands of emails during the early days of the pandemic were made public. One email in February 2020 shows that the White House chief medical adviser believed face masks were “not really effective in keeping out [the] virus.”

The email was addressed to Sylvia Burwell, the U.S. secretary of health and human services during the Obama administration. It was sent on February 5, more than a month before the pandemic was declared. The contents of the emails did not significantly differ from Fauci’s public views on masks at the time. The emails were obtained by Buzzfeed News and The Washington Post following a Freedom of Information Act request.

In the email, Fauci told Burwell that she did not need to wear a mask for a trip because she was “going to a very low risk location.” He also said that store-bought masks were “really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended mask-wearing about two months later when more information about the transmission of the virus and the effectiveness of masks were known. Still, some say that Fauci was intentionally deceptive on masks, causing a flood of renewed calls for his dismissal on social media.

“Told you… #FireFauci,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tweeted. “Can’t wait to see the media try to spin the Fauci FOIA emails.”

“It’s time to fire Fauci! Emails that have been released now under Freedom of Information Act show two very important things: 1. FAUCI has been lying 2. I’ve been right all along,” Paul later added in a tweet to his personal account, followed by a donation link.

Other GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, followed suit. Here are what they posted on Twitter:

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) tweeted only the hashtag #FireFauci with a copy of the Burwell email.

Dr. Fauci does not appear to have himself expressed views that were inconsistent with his public statements on COVID-19 at the time in any of the emails, News week reported.

Source: Newsweek