Fauci: 'New and Worrying' Level of Anger Directed at Me From Politicians

Dr. Anthony Fauciformer director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday he faced “disturbing” levels of anger while testifying before the House in early June.

Fauci testified earlier this month before the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which questioned him about his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fauci said the treatment he received in recent years as a public figure was “pretty new and concerning” when asked about his June 3 congressional testimony.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday he faced “disturbing” levels of anger when he testified before the House in early June. (CBS)

“What we’re seeing now,” Fauci said on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” is “vitriol and pure hostility.”

“Now this is a pure attack, which I believe is just a reflection of the deep level of division in the country, which is very destructive,” Fauci added.

“There was always politics, there were people of different ideologies, there were center, center-left, center-right, they disagreed and they argued sometimes” , Fauci said. “But at the end of the day, there was courtesy and mutual respect.”

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Fauci appeared in the national spotlight again in early June after lawmakers on the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic questioned him about his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. (GREG NASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Fauci said he had been questioned “very strictly” and “thoroughly” in previous administrations, but added that the U.S. political environment had changed. He also said that “there is a certain degree of schizophrenia in the country” and political division.

Lawmakers questioned Fauci throughout the June 3 hearing about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's six-foot distancing rule, masking of schoolchildren and other pandemic-related restrictions.

Fauci testified affirmatively each time when Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, asked whether the closures of businesses, churches, schools and the stay-at-home order were justified.

Fauci said mandatory masks, including those for children under 5, came against the backdrop of times “when 5,000 people were dying every day.”

Danielle Wallace of Fox News contributed to this report.

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