by WorldTribune Staff, April 16, 2021
Pressed on Thursday by Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan on when exactly he expects Covid restrictions will end, leftist darling Dr. Anthony Fauci refused to answer.
Normally, a duck and feint is all it takes for the man who changed the world’s behavior. But Jordan, always persistent and one of the last principled conservatives in the U.S. Congress, was fighting mad, and the nation got to watch Fauci finally squirm.
He had said earlier in the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing that, as cases go down, officials can be more “flexible” about lifting Covid restrictions countrywide. But he refused to give even a ballpark figure as to when that might be.
“Fifteen days to slow the spread turned into one year of lost liberty,” Jordan said before asking Fauci: “What metrics, what measures, what has to happen before Americans get more freedoms?”
Related: Navarro: Clear signs show Fauci is ‘father of the pandemic’; Mnuchin blocked Trump commission, April 15, 2021
Fauci responded that precautions to prevent spreading the virus can be lifted after the nation vaccinates as many people as soon as it can.
Jordan again demanded “What measure, what standard, what objective outcome, do we have to reach before… Americans get their liberty and freedoms back?” He declared “First Amendment rights,” and rights to attend church, petition one’s government, freedom of the press and freedom of speech have “all been assaulted.”
“I don’t look at this as a liberty thing,” Fauci replied… Jordan interjected, “That’s obvious.”
“Give us your best guess then,” Jordan told Fauci. “I just did,” Fauci replied.
“No you didn’t.” replied Jordan. “You didn’t give us a time. Are we gonna be here two years from now wearing masks and asking Dr. Fauci the same question?”
“No, I doubt, … let me… you’re ranting again,” Fauci interjects.
“Here’s how it works, Dr. Fauci. I get to ask you the questions,” Jordan responds.
“You’re the highest paid official in the U.S. government. You’ve given us your advice on baseball, on dating apps, cruise ships. You told us zero masks, one mask, two masks, now back to one mask.”
“I’m just asking you when it’s going to end? You can say I’m ranting; I’m actually asking the question for the citizens I get the privilege of representing. My name actually goes on a ballet. I don’t think your name has ever been on a ballot; my name goes on a ballot.”
“The citizens I represent want to know the answer to when they can get their liberties back. You can call that ranting, I call that standing up for the Constitution, which I take an oath to uphold, Dr. Fauci.”
“Every term that I serve in this Congress is representing the folks of the Fourth District of Ohio. So it is not ranting; it is defending the the First Amendment.”
“And we’d like an answer, or your best guess, since you’ve got an answer for everything else.”
Except, for this, he didn’t.
Wall Street Journal columnist James Freeman noted: “Dr. Anthony Fauci is the government infectious disease expert who now refuses to provide his expert opinion on infectious disease. It’s a safe bet he won’t stop appearing on television — as long as polite media folk don’t demand too much transparency regarding his Covid advice.”
The refusal by Fauci to “consider the larger societal impact of his Covid advice is an ongoing national tragedy,” Freeman wrote. “As politicians were following his advice and locking down last spring, Dr. Fauci described the impact on Americans as ‘inconvenient.’ ”
Inconvenient?
Millions of Americans lost their jobs. More than $4 trillion in federal debt was accumulated. It was evident long ago that lockdowns didn’t work.
Yet, Fauci is “still urging restrictions on normal life,” Freeman noted.
“Dr. Fauci’s defenders might argue that he was simply doing his best to apply his expertise on infectious disease and that it’s not his job to notice the economic and non-Covid health problems resulting from his policies. But there is no excuse for Thursday’s refusal to share his expert opinion on the appropriate Covid measurement to determine when normal life can resume. Dr. Fauci spent several minutes fencing with Rep. Jordan and saying liberty could be restored when the level of infection is ‘low enough.’ But the government doctor repeatedly refused to put a number on it.”
Freeman continued: “It’s impossible to believe that Dr. Fauci hasn’t thought about this question and formed an opinion. He may be able to dodge accountability for all the non-Covid destruction. But he owes the public a straight answer to the most important question at the center of his area of expertise. How many patients in America would tolerate this behavior from their own physicians?”
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Fauci on the grill: Rep. Jim Jordan had a simple question; The doctor has no answer added by World Tribune on
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