Marco Rubio, who has previously downplayed the coronavirus pandemic, is catching a lot of heat on Twitter for publicly criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Earlier this month, Rubio was among the handful of notable politicians to first get the virus. "I am so confident that the #Covid19 vaccine is safe & effective that I decided to take it myself," said Rubio in a tweet he shared on Dec. 19. In the past, Rubio has been seen not wearing a mask at large gatherings despite rising cases of the virus. Despite jumping at the chance to get the vaccine, Rubio decided to criticize Fauci in a tweet on Sunday (Dec. 27).
"Dr. Fauci lied about masks in March," he wrote. "Dr. Fauci has been distorting the level of vaccination needed for herd immunity. It isn't just him. Many in elite bubbles believe the American public doesn't know 'what's going for them' so they need to be tricked into 'doing the right thing.'" His tweet appears to reference how, back in March, Fauci didn't suggest that face coverings and masks were a priority at the time because there was a shortage of the supplies. Instead, he said, these supplies should be going to the front line workers who are most at risk.
Fauci had also suggested that in order for the controversial "herd immunity" to work, between 70 to 85 percent of the American population would need to get vaccinated. Rubio, however, seems to think Fauci is vastly overestimating the figure. This is, of course, after he publicly received the vaccine that he'd minimized the importance of.
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Needless to say, Twitter is having a field day with Rubio's hypocrisy as many are calling out his irresponsibility in casting doubt on one of America's leading infectious diseases experts at such a critical time.
Check out the reactions to Rubio's comments below.