NIH Director Defends Fauci After Rand Paul Clash: Being Turned Into a ‘Demonized Character for Political Purposes’

National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins came to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s defense on Wednesday over his fiery exchange with Senator Rand Paul.

Paul accused Fauci of lying regarding previous testimony saying the NIH didn’t fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. “Knowing it is a crime to lie to Congress, do you wish to retract your statement?” Paul asked.

Fauci went off on Paul in response and said, “Senator Paul, you do not know what you’re talking about, quite frankly, and I want to say that officially. You do not know what you’re talking about!”

Paul followed up by saying he’s writing to the Department of Justice “asking for a criminal referral.”

CNN’s Jim Acosta played the exchange for Collins on Wednesday and asked for his response.

“It’s very unfortunate to have something that I think could be readily resolved in terms of understanding the meaning of the term gain-of-function. But instead this has turned into political theatrics,” Collins responded, lamenting how “time is being wasted on this kind of posturing.”

“You do stand by what Dr. Fauci said in response to Senator Paul at this
hearing, is that correct?” Acosta asked.

“I absolutely support Tony Fauci in every way,” Collins responded. “I have never known him to be anything other than completely truthful. He is a public servant that people should be thankful to. To see him attacked and demonized this way on political grounds is really hard to watch.”

I’m very concerned when I see probably the most highly respected infectious disease doctor on the planet being treated this way, having these accusations without any basis thrown at him, stirring up all kinds of nasty outreaches to him that require him now to have 24/7 security detail to protect him and his family. What has happened to us that somebody who’s trying to help the public by telling the truth is turned into this kind of demonized character for political purposes. It is unacceptable.

You can watch above, via CNN.

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