Dr. Anthony Fauci got his panties in a twist after he was asked by a conservative radio host if he should resign due to American’s lack of trust in him.
Fauci on Wednesday spoke to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt who questioned him about stepping aside, Fox News reported.
“I have lost confidence in the CDC and the FDA and I actually believe a lot of Americans, a significant part of America now have lost confidence in you, Dr. Fauci,” Hewitt said. “Is there a point where you will say, ‘I do more harm than good because people don’t listen to me anymore,’ and step aside?”
Fauci didn’t appreciate that question one bit. After all, the doctor has said in the past that an attack on himself is an attack on science. What was Hewitt thinking? How dare he!
“No. Absolutely, unequivocally no, Hugh. Sorry,” Fauci hit back. “When you have an evolving situation and data are rapidly evolving in something that is unprecedented and unknown, you have to evolve with it and look at the data as it exists now and make to the best of your ability a decision, a recommendation, all the kinds of things that go into the evolution.”
Hewitt wasn’t accepting that dribble for one second, he fires back:
“It’s just a fact that Tony Fauci, not the guy I’m talking with but Tony Fauci- the person in people’s minds, is now an impediment to public health because people won’t listen to you,” the host said. “They actively reject what Tony Fauci says for reasons which are complicated… but can you accept that if that’s just the fact, you ought to respond to it and say ‘Mr. President, I think my time is up as a successful and effective spokesperson?’”
Fauci responds:
“You know, with all due respect… I just completely disagree with that premise because there are an awful lot of people who do listen, who do the right thing from a public health standpoint,” Fauci said. “So because there are a lot of people who have ideas of conspiracies and changing minds and flip-flopping, that’s not a reason to step down. Not at all.”
Fauci then added in about his adversarial relationship with activists during the AIDS epidemic four decades ago and how he “brought them into the dialogue” for some reason.
“So the idea that people right now are not listening to what I’m saying, what I’m saying is the truth,” Fauci said.
“I actually agree,” Hewitt said. “I got the booster, I’m Mr. Vaccine, I get the same kind of heat that you do, and what I’m saying though is there comes a point where it is simply a matter of fact that Tony Fauci in the era of social media is different than Tony Fauci of the beginning of HIV. And if a new face for the program developed, we would see an increase in vaccines and an increase in booster use. So if that data is presented to you that more people would get vaccinated if you left the scene, would you leave the scene?”
“Are you kidding me, Hugh?” Fauci hit back.
“I’m trying to explain to you the truth,” Hewitt said. “I got vaccinated because of you, but there is a large segment of the American people that doesn’t trust you now and that can’t be undone. So I want you to be able to speak to them. I know your heart, I know your public service, but if you’re an obstacle to getting vaccination rates up, should you step aside?”
Fauci then claimed he’s “not an obstacle to getting vaccination rates up,” but Hewitt directs him to polling data that says otherwise and asks once again if he would step aside.
“So people are saying, ‘I’m not getting the vaccine because Dr. Fauci is in the government.’ Are you kidding me?” Fauci said in disbelief.
“No actually, I believe that’s the truth, doctor,” Hewitt said.
“You’re not hearing me, doctor. You’re not hearing me. I’m saying people see you coming on and they turn off the channel because they don’t like you whereas if a new face arrives, a new younger face… if a new person shows up, I think we’re more effective,” he said.
