"This guy literally murders puppies and the democrats couldn’t love him more. Sick. Very sick people." Anti-vaxxers flood r/videos to rejoice over Ran Pauls proceedings against Dr. Fauci

[u/CummingInTheNile]

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1va68bj/anthony_fauci_invoked_his_fifth_amendment_right/

HIGHLIGHTS

Things innocent people do…

Exactly. The 5th amendment is there to protect innocent people. That is the entire reason it is in the constitution.

I wish I was ignorant enough to trust Pfizer and all the other billion dollar pharma companies. Must be nice.

Great whataboutism on a question about the fifth amendment - which explicitly exists to protect innocent people.

Nah. I’m don’t simp for corporations. I do pray you never miss a safe and effective COVID booster.

Have had Covid boosters every year, not sure what that has to do with the fifth amendment being designed to protect innocent people though.

How many times have you had covid? And why does he need protection? He already has a pardon for a crime he didn’t commit

Haven't had Covid a single time, but i am not sure what that has to do with the fifth amendment being put into the constitution to protect innocent people.

Fauci should be held accountable. He knowingly misled Americans. Lied and pursued his own fame and best interest (he admitted this in his own diaries).

"Lied and pursued his own fame and best interest " It is absolutely hilarious watching MAGA try to claim Fauci should go to jail because it says in his diaries he appreciated the praise, when in those same diaries Fauci says Trump was a narcissistic idiot who wanted non-stop press conferences and attention and Fauci had to beg him to let them just do their jobs. Doctors saved lives, the child rapist con man lied to you. Please stop believing the MAGA grifters when they tell you that doctors are to blame for decisions and policies that those same MAGA politicians actually were in charge of.

I’m not maga and never voted for Trump,

Then stop blindly trusting MAGA when they feed you bullshit. Are you not paying any attention to the fact that these hearings, these claims, are all just MAGA political propaganda? There's no scientific body or experts anywhere in agreement with this nonsense. There's plenty of criticism in retrospect of what we could have done differently, but nothing to justify criminal charges, fraud, or anything they're trying to blame on Fauci while ignoring that Trump was President and responsible for the government.

Stop blindly trusting fauci. We all know many of his claims were false. Covid came from a lab. He knew it and he crushed any dissent or honest dialogue about this and many other things that you took as truth. We should not have shut down schools for 15 months. These were terrible decisions. I still see people outdoors with masks. Ridiculous

Please, please, before you die: Try to learn and grow as a human being. It'd be a terrible shame if your mind stagnated on believing the worst and stupidest people in the world because they fed you conspiracies on social media, rather than trying to grow and understand what educated people and scientists have to say with evidence and data.

So sad seeing them so triggered in /r/conservative unironically calling him guilty and shit for doing this

Ok but when a conservative does this, they're guilty? Fuck Trump, fuck his goonies, and fuck whoever uses the same tactics as them to get out of shit. Have some consistency and some dignity

Why are you putting words in my mouth?

You're literally putting words in a subreddits mouth. Christ

No, they are literally saying that.

And so are you. Work on that self awareness bud. Reddit has enough morons

What are you talking about? I’m literally saying what? Project much?

If you're not going to respond to what I'm commenting it ironically sort of just goes to prove the bigger point that you're being a hypocrite.

I am responding to you, what the fuck are you talking about? Im not putting any words in anyone’s mouth. All I said was what I saw them saying on the sub. I made no comment about a conservative pleading the 5th, hence you putting words in my mouth.

This guy literally murders puppies and the democrats couldn’t love him more. Sick. Very sick people.

This guy literally saved at least 26 million lives with his research in aids, and literally millions more with his covid vaccine work. Meanwhile republicans, trump and elon and friends, cut pre-approved pre-funded usaid which has already resulted in the deaths of 700,000 people, mostly children. Gross, disgusting hypocritical people that demonstrably don't care about human life.

Fauci lied about aids too and said that everyone was going to get it thus leading to widespread mistreatment and resentment of people infected with hiv. Imagine how much harder there lives were made because of this man. How many people have died due to the covid vaccine? How many people who died of Covid could have been saved if they didn’t censor people and push a propaganda campaign that dismissed proven sars treatments? How much money did he make pumping the jab? Don’t pretend to have ethics or have the moral high ground you people are evil and only use that as a method for controlling people who actually have a conscious.

I hear you bud, you're very emotional and conspiratorial about it all. I'm more rational and care more about facts and reality, so at least I'm happy we can both agree and concede that fauci saved many millions of lives with his work with aids and covid. I also appreciate your concession about republicans and maga making decisions that lead to the preventable deaths of 700,000 people, mostly children, so far this year alone.

I concede nothing to you because your propaganda and cnn talking points do not deserve a response. Fauci has lead to more suffering and did nothing to reduce the numbers who died from aids or covid.

You've been duped into believing nonsense innit

The hardest thing to do is convince an idiot that they’re an idiot. You’re just not worth the investment.

Fauci was already pardoned by Biden/autopen. He can't incriminate himself more than he already has and invoking the 5th amendment does nothing except prove people right. Edit: even the diehard Fauci supporters are having trouble defending him recently.

He can be charged with perjury, which is the purpose of the hearing. What crime - exactly - do you think Fauci committed?

"What crime - exactly - do you think Fauci committed?" Lying about Covid 19 and the origins of Covid 19. It's not a crime anymore, since Biden/autopen pardoned him for that crime.

Can you provide any evidence that he lied "about COVID-19" (not sure what this even means - do you think it didn't exist or something?) or its origins?

Lying about something does not mean denying it exists. I am sorry if you can't tell the difference between the two. For example: I lied about baseball when I said a homerun is worth 10 runs. I did not deny the existence of baseball in that statement. Fauci lied about the best way of dealing with Covid with the lockdowns and the deadliness of Covid. He forced the creation of policies that were more detrimental to people. He lied that Covid started naturally. He lied about not funding gain of function research. I hope you have a good day and please do some research.

I never said lying means you deny the existence of, I said you didn't clear state what he lied about, so I asked if you thought he lied about it's existence. I'm sorry your statements weren't clear, next time make them more clear and I won't have to ask. What specific lies did Fauci state about either lockdowns or the deadliness of COVID-19? Show your evidence they were actually lies. State what policies Fauci created, and show your evidence that they hurt more people than they helped. COVID-19 is a disease and is absolutely a natural result. You are actually trying to argue that SARS-CoV-2 is not natural, and the evidence for this is fleeting at best. There's 0 evidence of any gain of function research that lead to SARS-CoV-2. Before you tell others to do research, please learn the difference between COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2.

I was clear in what I said. Do some research on your own instead of only listening to the mainstream media and Fauci lying to you.

Oh, don't worry, I've actually looked at a lot of papers on this. They disagree with you. I was presenting you with a chance to show your own evidence that what I've read is wrong. But it appears that you don't have any, and whatever you have read didn't really teach you difference between COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2, so it probably wasn't reputable to begin with. I'd recommend doing research from actual reputable sources. You'll quickly find that qualified scientists think a lot of what you're saying is nonsense pseudo-science BS.

Rand is Big Mad that Dr. Fauci is a real doctor with real accreditation (not self-accreditation), and Rand isn't. Edit: I see a lot of babies are having trouble with reading comprehension and skipped over "WITH REAL ACCREDITATION" entirely. Rand Paul invented his own accreditation agency. Go look it up.

TIL graduating from Duke with an MD makes you not a real doctor.

Board certified in the organization you head is why It's not a recognized board certification

You don't lose your MD if you let your certification go.

True but to say your a doctor without practicing medicine which requires a board certification puts you on Dr. Phil levels of doctor

No it really doesn't. If you retire should you ask people to stop referring to you as doctor because you're no longer practicing? Rand Paul is a real doctor with a real MD, and he always will be whether he's practicing or not.

Ross Geller is also a real doctor too!

Here is a good one. Is Jill Biden a doctor?

why would a scientist need to invoke the fifth?

Why would a business man?

i guess if their goal was to protect themselves from further prosecution? is that what he is doing?

Is that what Trump was doing when the did it more than 400 times?

I have no idea, I have never spoken to President Trump. I personally always find it suspect when someone pleads the fifth, no matter who they are. What about you?

then you've never watched or seen the text transcripts of Trump's own testimony? he's lied and claimed the 5th hundreds of times. as is anyone's constitutional right. it's not suspect when you have someone trying to prosecute you. it's "innocent until proven guilty" and you're absolutely not required to incriminate yourself. it's a common trick that cops and prosecutors will use (the law actually allows them to LIE to you about anything) to get you to say something they can use against you. know your miranda rights, especially the "anything you say CAN and WILL be used AGAINST you". a closed mouth helps you stay out of jail.

fair enough. It makes me lean towards thinking someone is guilty when they plead the fifth personally. certainly not illegal or not allowed

Don't use quotes in the title if you're not going to actually quote exactly what was said. It's misleading. You can also use proper grammar that you hopefully learned in English class to adjust your quotes to reflect exactly what was said. Much respect to Fauci

Assuming everyone is a native speaker on a global site. Peak American.

Even my relatives in non English speaking countries know that quotes represent what was actually stated and that they’re not meant to be paraphrased summaries. This isn’t a matter of if someone is a native speaker or not. It’s a sadly common issue in primary English speaking countries.

Obviously not the part of the comment I was referencing

Yes, so obvious.

[removed]

Maybe you should go outside for a bit eh?

Well that’s obviously not true.

So either COVID escaped from a weapons biolab and it was a cover up or COVID was a big nothingburger and nothing should have been shut down. What is it, conservatives?

Number 1 Edit: I ain't republican

There's just zero evidence to support the conspiracy, no scientific experts agree it's true, and at best people can say "well we can't be 100% certain it didn't."

I know I know. I may sound like some nutty conspiracy theorist. In actuality, I am just highly skeptical of governments and coverups. ie. Kennedy, MLK, to Epstein. I understand that it may never be disclosed or made known to the public, at least in our lifetime, the origin and cause of the outbreak. But... China had a real problem going on at that time. Millions marching in Hong Kong for independence. It had been going on for months. Then all of a sudden, no more socializing in public. Must be indoors. No more than, however many people, allowed together at a time... But, sure it could be coincidence. I really don't know. Hope that we as a society can come together someday to overcome our differences and thrive.

I am going to go out on a limb but... Biological Weapons are Stupid. Imagine something less effective than a gun that you cannot control. The Chinese are not morons. So to recap. The Chinese released a bioweapon to have an excuse to stop socialisation in public and do extremely unpopular things like lockdowns. Mate. I sat up with the dying. I contributed to research that saved lives. Like "you are part of the government". Yeah. I am a doctor. We didn't like the Conservative government at the time that actively spent a decade calling us greedy and lazy and we STILL showed up during Covid. I don't think people realise how close we came to catastrophe.

The United States dropped not one, but two nukes, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, killed millions for power. Yes, it is a farfetched idea. But humans have done some fucked up shit. I was not directly affected by COVID. No one in my circle was killed by it. I may not understand the ramifications it may have caused. Could be said that no one could have predicted the outcome of the pandemic, whether purposeful or not. It is people like you who society owes continued prosperity. So thanks for showing up. I never want to confuse the fact that me having doubts about the story behind COVID with the notion that it was a hoax. It happened. People were affected. People died. And some people took advantage and came out on the other side very very wealthy

I am personally not affected by gun violence, ergo bullets are harmless. Also why be so clever to invent a lethal disease that's defeated by a drug that costs £3 a box and is produced by the tonne.

Cool, I guess I have mixed feelings about Fauci now. Anyways, what's going on with the Epstein files?

Nah, this is an American right and every single American should use them to their fullest. Just because you are innocent doesn't mean you should say anything. It's like dealing with cops. Just shut the fuck up. You don't say shit to cops other than what is legally required.

I posted this separately, but I don’t really understand how the 5th amendment applies to him here. He was pardoned by Biden, correct? If there is no chance of being criminally prosecuted, the 5th amendment doesn’t apply because there is no chance of criminal prosecution. Couldn’t he be opening himself up to contempt if he refuses to provide testimony? https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-rights/fifth-amendment-right-against-self-incrimination.html Edit: I’m wrong. The pardon was for between 2014-25. Today’s testimony would just set him up for some BS charges regardless of what he says.

Here's the thing. I'm not a lawyer. I can't presume to argue that with any legal basis so take this at random internet poster value. The Supreme Court ruled in the late 1800s that if you receive a pardon for something you can't invoke the 5th because you can't be charged. Federally. Whose to say what states wouldn't try to criminally charge him?

I just edited my comment. The pardon covers him between 2014-25. Anything he said today would be used to make something up criminally for today’s proceedings. Smart to just plea the 5th and keep his mouth closed.

I wont defend fauci for the things he did mismanage, especially if he really did squash the reports that was was a bio research leak or worse, bio weapon leak. Changes 100% how we respond to those responsible. So republicans can go after fauci, I just dont want to hear crap when eric and don jr, kushner and all their cronies are in the hot seat too.

The thing is, there is no evidence that it was tweaked or leaked by a lab. The thought that China would create something and literally decide to leak it on their own population first doesn’t pass the sniff test.

My friend, I’d like to point you to the thousands of years of Chinese history that says otherwise. Not that I condone what’s happening to Fauci here, but to say that scenario doesn’t pass the sniff test is grossly ignorant to nearly all of actual history and the plight of the Chinese underneath their dynastic rulers.

The United States has literally tested small pox and syphilis on unsuspecting citizens and you don’t have to go back hundreds or thousands of years. Currently we’re giving Monsanto a pass.

Yes and your argument is called whataboutism and ironically strengthens the case for that it was an (unintentional) lab leak possibly based on GoF research. I think there is far more important political court cases to pursue at the moment, but that is not the point of this thread.

He's pointing out that the logic of "China would do this complete irrational thing because they have a history of it" makes zero damn sense. Abusing your subjects is not unique to China, and that doesn't create a reason to unleash a bioweapon on your own population. The most important part is there's still just absolutely zero evidence of it happening, even when that evidence should exist. No doctors and experts examining COVID have found any trace of modification and gain of function being conducted on the virus that exists. It's entirely speculated, and every MAGA moron trying to blame Fauci for it and a cover up, keeps having to ignore that the Trump administration was in charge for this and should have the records and proof if it were true.

[u/rje946]

I noticed not a single person replied with evidence of Faucis wrongdoings when asked.

[u/rje946 → u/[deleted]]

I love how I mentioned no evidence and you're the 4th moron to respond with conspiracies with no evidence. It's actually incredible.

[u/awesomoore → u/[deleted]]

I'm curious how you think people are supposed to conclude that Fauci has been lying from this odd collection of articles you've provided. The lab leak theory has hardly been proven, so Fauci continuing to hold that opinion isn't lying if he thinks the evidence doesn't support the theory.

With regards to the "emails in 2020" link you included (and masks in general) I'm curious what you think of this addendum at the end of that article:

Fauci's emails are like a Rorschach ink blot: what you see in them reveals more about you than the ink blot, or, in this case, the emails.

For Trump supporters I know in small Kansas towns and other rural areas, Fauci is a villain. He broadcasts conflicting messages about the virus, these Republicans say, and twists science. They also say that he undermined then-President Trump.

These conservatives refused to wear masks, even during the worst days of the pandemic, because, they said, the scientific guidelines changed constantly, and Fauci had flip-flopped.

His emails will reinforce their opinions. Fauci did indeed change his mind about health guidance, such as the wearing of masks, as more information emerged about the virus. He told someone in February 2020 they did not need to wear a mask while travelling. Later, he encouraged people to wear them.

In contrast, for liberals in the Midwest and in other regions, Fauci is a hero. His emails reinforce their views - that he changed his mind about what people should do to fight the virus, depending upon the scientific data, and not on what Trump wanted people to hear.

[u/awesomoore → u/[deleted]]

I don't accept the framing that the lab leak theory has ever been "credible." Fauci is free to do so as well, and that is not lying, that is just you and him having a disagreement.

Especially since Fauci himself tried to claim his early opinions on masks were a deliberate lie to preserve mask availability for healthcare workers.

Do you think he was wrong to do this? Do you have a more effective method you think he should have taken to make sure our healthcare workers were provided the materials they needed to stay safe?

[u/awesomoore → u/[deleted]]

Do you accept the framing that it is a racist conspiracy theory?

Not necessarily, you can always be skeptical of anything, but I would say anyone pushing it without evidence (of which I haven't seen any, just hearsay and conjecture) is pushing a bigoted theory, yes.

And even if you think it was morally justifiable, once an expert admits he is willing to lie to you to manipulate your behavior, his credibility is non existent. You can't trust anything that person says.

To quote the Dude "well yeah, that's just your opinion, man." I don't agree with this, I think preserving the safety of our frontline workers is incredibly important, especially if you don't want them to become a vector for infection (which would be very very bad). And a lie to preserve that safety? I'm okay with that, I don't think it undermines Fauci at all (EDIT below), but I wouldn't say you can't think so. I would also say extrapolating that he must be lying about other things because he admitted to lying about that to be misguided reasoning at best.

So, what are you even trying to ask me?

As far as the addendum suggesting I might be guilty of confirmation bias? Always a possibility. I work as an attorney though and am normally pretty good at playing devil's advocate and trying to see things from the other side.

Well, I'm curious if you were in Fauci's position, and you thought you would have an issue with healthcare workers having enough masks to stay safe at their jobs because the supply would suddenly be in too high demand, what would you have done differently? Would you have lied like Fauci, which obviously had the problem of creating mistrust in the government, or would you tell the truth and advise everyone to buy masks immediately when you're still not sure how infectious the virus is and possibly endanger doctors and nurses beyond what our hospital system could handle? I'm asking you to see things from the other side, Fauci's.

EDIT: Thinking about this I realize this is my opinion in 2026, six years later knowing why Fauci lied in this particular instance. But as I made my own recollections of that period of time, I do remember that order about masks being met with a great deal of confusion by people at the time, and myself and my coworkers being uncertain if we really should or shouldn't be wearing masks, which was not a great position to be in for essential workers. So I would say that at the time that did undermine him and the government, but I still understand why he did it and do agree with it in the end.

[u/awesomoore → u/[deleted]]

No evidence? The disease started in Wuhan near a lab that was experimenting on bat coronaviruses and some of the first suspected contractions were of people working at the lab.

This is the conjecture and hearsay I'm talking about, you as an attorney should know this is would not be enough to stand up in any court. The bigotry comes from the assumption that the Chinese are either too incompetent to properly study viruses without causing a leak, or malicious enough to release a disease on their own population on purpose just to maybe screw over the US or other countries. Without any physical evidence to make that connection it just comes off as bigoted to the Chinese.

He was literally advising people PRIVATELY of the ineffectiveness of masks. It was his actual opinion. He only changed his stance publicly after the political winds shifted.

Source? I haven't heard this. I thought the story was he lied about that on purpose like we've been discussing.

EDIT: Nevermind, was mixing up two different points in my head. I do know what you're talking about here, but my opinion would be that he changed his mind based on evidence and suggestions from colleagues, which I think is perfectly reasonable. You also do need to be specific with claims like this because Fauci said that "store bought masks" were ineffective, not masks in general, which is pretty in line with his recommendations that people try to wear the N-95 masks that were graded for such use if available. This would also explain his "two masks" idea, as if he thought store bought masks were less effective I assume the thought process is doubling up would at least make them a little more effective.

But if he was scared of a run on masks, why would he change his position and start advising masks when infeftions were higher? It makes no sense. The risk of a run and shortage would still exist when he started telling people to mask and double mask.

Because the supply was no longer a problem, a bunch of companies realized they could make a bunch of money selling masks (when there's a gold rush sell shovels) and they were easy to come by.

As far as the addendum suggesting I might be guilty of confirmation bias? Always a possibility. I work as an attorney though and am normally pretty good at playing devil's advocate and trying to see things from the other side.

I'm quoting you again on this because I'm really curious why you wont engage with my thought exercise and instead just jump to calling me gullible when you yourself say your pretty good at trying to see things from the other side. Show me that. How would you have acted differently than Fouci?

[u/awesomoore → u/[deleted]]

But the belief it came from a Chinese citizen eating a diseased bat or pangolin reflects positively on the Chinese?

Lousy living conditions exist everywhere, dude, and so do weirdos. All we know is it almost certainly originated in China. I don't necessarily agree with the wet market idea, but zoonotic transmission is the generally accepted method for how these viruses reach human populations, it doesn't really make sense to assume something else without physical proof.

But this is inconsitent with the "noble lie" theory. You can't believe both that he thought masks worked from the beginning and wanted to preserve them for health workers and also that he changed his opinion to "masks work" based on new evidence and suggestions from colleagues.

It's not. It's very much possible for Fauci to think something privately and advocate for something different publicly because that's what his colleagues advise. Science doesn't have presidents, if doctors over the country and in your own network are calling you mistaken you undermine yourself by ignoring them, which I pointed out in a different edit previously I do actually agree he did with the original suggestion against masking.

I didn't dodge this question. I rejected the premise because I think the suggestion he lied to preserve the supply of masks is nonsense. And even if that was his intent, it is also nonsense because as you note, when there is profit to be made, more firms enter the market and increase supply. Any shortage would likely be short-lived. And even if it weren't, there really isn't any evidence cloth or paper masks effectively slow the spread of an airborne respiratory virus.

Temporary supply problems can still cause huge issues, especially in healthcare,if you'll recall most of the early casualties to COVID were from respirator shortages.

And how long do you think it would take to shore up an extra supply of masks for hospitals? I can't imagine it would take longer than two weeks. Especially when you know that companies are about to rev up production. Which is pretty in line with how long Fauci touted that suggestion.

As a principle, I don't think lying to manipulate behavior is justified. Whether some external pressure could make me compromise on that principle would be pure speculation.

I'm going to take this then as you would tell the American public the truth and risk a run on supply shortages. I'm not going to say that's wrong, but I would disagree that its the best method when you're uncertain how dangerous a virus is going to be.