Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-WI) claim he was overhyping the coronavirus pandemic.
Anchor Jake Tapper said, “Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said this week that you have been using coronavirus to keep Americans in fear and maintain control. Take a listen.”
During an interview with Fox News Channel’s Brian Kilmeade, Johnson said, “Fauci did the exact same thing with AIDS. He overhyped it. He created all kinds of fear, saying it could infect the entire population when it couldn’t, and he’s using the exact same playbook with COVID.”
Tapper said, “Obviously, that’s a bizarre and false assertion. President George W. Bush gave you the Presidential Medal of Freedom because of your leadership in the AIDS crisis. I did want to give you an opportunity to respond.”
Fauci said, “You know Jake, how do you respond to something as preposterous as that? Overhyping AIDS? It killed over 750,000 Americans and 36 million people worldwide. How do you overhype that? Overhyping Covid? It’s already killed 780,000 Americans and over 5 million people worldwide, so I don’t have any clue what he’s talking about.”
Tapper added, “I don’t think he does either.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.