Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Adviser to the president, speaks during a Committee hearing on January 11, 2022 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Image Credit: AP)
Washington: US Chief Medical Advisor Dr.Anthony Fauci has accused Republican senator Rand Paul of having driven a massive "misinformation" campaign against him and against Covid-19 pandemic measures which has left him and his family facing death threats. The infectious disease expert had a heated back and forth with lawmakers at the Senate Comittee hearing in Washington on Tuesday which prompted his remarks.
"What happens when he (Paul) gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue is that all of a sudden, that kindles the crazies out there and I have ... threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children," Fauci said.
Fauci said on December 21 a person was arrested in Iowa who was traveling from California to Washington, D.C., allegedly to kill Fauci.
"It distracts from what we're all trying to do here today, (which) is get our arms around the epidemic and the pandemic that we're dealing with, not something imaginary," Fauci said.
Republican lawmakers have been largely sceptical and sometimes hostile towards pandemic curtailing measures and mandatory vaccination which are cornerstones of the Biden administration's attempts to fight the coronavirus.
Fauci accused Senator Roger Marshall l of being a "moron" at the same health committee hearing, after the Senator requested Fauci's financial details, which Fauci said we're publicly available at a request.
Marshall's extended questioning of Fauci's finances comes as multiple Republican senators have teed off on President Biden's top health advisor during the hearing, which puts the spotlight on the administration's handling of the pandemic. For months, some GOP lawmakers have called on Fauci to be fired.
He also accused Rand Paul of distorting the truth for monetary and political gain, pointing to Paul's website which has fundraising links on calls to fire Fauci and which also propagates misinformation about masks and the vaccine.
Last month, Fauci called for Fox News host Jesse Watters to be fired after Watters made remarks about a "kill shot" while criticizing the doctor.