say what?

Madison Cawthorn calls Fauci a “punk” who’s trying to further his career

Madison Cawthorn lets rip about Dr. Anthony Fauci on Newsmax
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (Image: YouTube)

As Covid rates rise again across the US, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) has joined the chorus of other far-right GOP lawmakers in criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Fauci, 80, is Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). He is one of the most well-respected public health officials in the world. For decades, he has led the fight against HIV and AIDS and in recent months has been at the forefront of the fight against Covid.

But to Cawthorn, he’s a “punk” who “lied to Congress” and needs to be arrested. Oh, and he also can’t throw a baseball.

Related: Madison Cawthorn schools colleagues on facts, gets most basic fact wrong

At a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, Senator Rand Paul had a terse exchange with Fauci as he questioned him whether NIAID had provided research funding to a lab in Wuhan, China. Paul asked Fauci to retract a statement saying there had been no funding, but Fauci declined to do so.

Interviewed on Newsmax, Cawthorn, 25, who was elected last year and is currently the youngest member of Congress, made his views on Fauci clear.

“The reason you see Dr. Anthony Fauci dodging questions, although if he was to throw a baseball at one of these questions it wouldn’t have to move at all because the guy can’t throw a baseball to save his life,” Cawthorn joked.

“But the reason he dodges all these questions is I believe he is culpable and he actually bears some responsibility for what happened in the Wuhan lab.”

“It really makes me angry to say that he does not want to retract his statements because he did lie to the American people,” Cawthorn continued later. “He did lie to Congress, which is a crime.”

“And I’ll tell you, I normally have a great amount of respect for the people who work here on Capitol Hill, knowing that they, although we have different ideas on how to accomplish it, we are all trying to work for the betterment of the American people.

“But I will tell you right now, that is not the case with Anthony Fauci. He is a punk who is trying to further his own career, make himself wealthy and famous. But let me tell you, he deserves neither wealth nor fame because he has destroyed countless small businesses.”

He went on to blast Fauci as, “a pawn for the Chinese government.”

“He has taken years of development away from young children who are missing the best parts of their entire lives,” claimed Hawthorn.

“He has shackled entire states and destroyed their economies. All because of what? He wants to see his face on the news?”

Cawthorn’s comments come as concern grows about the spread of the Delta variant of Covid. In Los Angeles County, the Covid positivity rate has gone up from 0.7% a month ago to 5.2% this week.

Gregory Poland of the Mayo Clinic was blunt about the risk of the Delta variant when he spoke to CBS 4: “This is a very different variant. It will find you. This virus will find everybody who is not immune.”

Yesterday, President Biden said the CDC was due to advise that kids who haven’t been vaccinated should wear masks when they return to school in the fall.

Cawthorn’s comments about Fauci, particularly the accusation the health expert is out to further his career, received scorn on Twitter.

Related: Madison Cawthorn’s crappy week continues with announcement of 2022 challenger… who happens to be gay

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