Dr. Fauci, President Biden’s top medical adviser for the coronavirus — is under attack in Pennsylvania, where Mehmet Oz, a television doctor who has entered the Republican Senate primary there, calls him a “petty tyrant.”
In Nebraska, an ad shows Jim Pillen, a Republican running for governor, dressed in hunting gear and cocking his gun after saying, “And Fauci? Don’t get me started.”
But as the 2022 midterm elections approach, the attacks have spread across the nation, as we approach the mid-terms.
Dr. Foci has also become a symbol of the deep schism in the country, mistrust in government and a brewing populist resentment of the elites, all made worse by the pandemic.
Dr. Fauci, whose perpetual television appearances have made him the face of the Covid-19 response seems an obvious person to blame.
Dr. Fauci has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and has advised eight presidents.
These attacks are fueled by populism which is anti-establishment, anti-expertise, anti-intellectual and anti-media.
Fauci is a venerated figure in the world of science. As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, he has helped lead the response to various public health crises, including AIDS and Ebola.
Candidates in hotly contested Republican primaries like Ohio’s are trying to out-Trump one another by supplanting Speaker Nancy Pelosi with Dr. Fauci as a political boogeyman.
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In the House: Republicans and Democrats are seeking to gain an edge through redistricting and gerrymandering.
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In Pennsylvania, Dr. Oz recently ran an ad calling for a debate between him and Dr. Fauci.
In Wisconsin, Kevin Nicholson, a onetime Democrat running for governor as a conservative outsider, says Dr. Fauci “should be fired and referred to prosecutors.”
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has coined a new term: “Faucism.” In Washington, lawmakers are taking aim at Dr. Fauci’s salary, finances and influence.
Still, Dr. Fauci remains for many Americans “one of the most trusted voices regarding the pandemic.” In a Gallup poll at the end of 2021, his job approval rating was 52 percent.
Republican strategists are split on whether attacking Dr. Fauci is a smart strategy and could backfire in a general election, especially in a swing state like Ohio.
The roots of anti-Fauci campaign rhetoric can be traced to Washington, where Dr. Fauci has clashed repeatedly with two Republican senators who are also doctors: Mr. Paul, an ophthalmologist, and Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, an obstetrician.
Mr. Paul has fueled speculation that Covid-19 was the result of a lab leak produced by federally funded “gain-of-function” research — high-risk studies aimed at making viruses more infectious — in Wuhan, China.
If Democrats lose seats in the midterm elections, as many expect, Dr. Fauci may have a Republican-controlled Congress to contend with. Another Republican from Ohio, Representative Jim Jordan, who claims that Dr. Fauci knew the coronavirus “came from a lab,” has vowed that Republicans will investigate him if they win control of the House.
This is one more reason why we must do our utmost to fight against these ant-science lies and vote for progressive values locally and in the Mid Terms.
Source: New York Times