Questioning 80-year-old National Institutes of Health [NIH] infectious disease chief Dr. Anthony Fauci July 31 in the House subcommittee on the novel corona virus, 56-year-old Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) tried to get “the nation’s leading authority on cornaovirus” to admit mass protests are not advisable. Facui stubbornly refused to answer Jordan’s questions, suggesting he’s part of the resistance against 74-year-old President Donald Trump. Used by Democrats and the media to criticize Trump’s response to the novel coronavirus AKA SARS CoV-2 or Covid-19, Fauci frequently appears on anti-Trump TV and radio answering loaded question that impeach Trump’s credibility handling of the virus. Trump committed the unpardonable sin to Democrats and the media, questioning Fauci’s decisions about banning flights from China and wearing masks early on.
Exposing Fauci’s political bias against Trump, he refused to answer a simple question by Jordan about the advisability of street protesting. “Should the government limit protesting,” Jordan asked Fauci. “I don’t think that’s relevant,” Fauci said. “I’m not in a position to determine what the government can do in a forceful way,” Fauci told Jordan, not getting the gist of his question. Fauci didn’t like when Trump brought up that the NIH’s infectious disease expert made mistakes advising the president what to do to limit the infectious disease crisis. Fauci and his 64-year-old State Department counterpart on the White House Coronavirus Task Force Dr. Deborah Birx advised Trump to shut down the U.S. economy to control the spread of the virus. From the end of March through June, businesses around the country were largely shut down, causing catastrophic damage to the U.S. economy.
Fauci and Birx take no responsibility for advising the president about nationwide shut downs and “shelter in place” orders that drove a 3.5% unemployment rate to 15% by the end of June. “You make all kinds of recommendations,” Jordan told Fauci. “Is there a world where the Constitution says you can favor one First Amendment liberty, protesting, over another, practicing your faith?” Jordan asked, pointing to the sheer hypocrisy behind shelter in place orders, allowing protesters to swarm U.S. streets but banning religious institutions from holding services. “I’m not favoring anybody over anybody,” Fauci replied. “I’m just making a statement that’s a broad statement, that avoid crowds of any type, no matter where you are, because that leads to acquisition and transmission. And I don’t judge one crowd versus another crowd. When you’re in a crowd, particularly if you’re not wearing a mask, that induces the spread,” Fauci said.
Fauci answered Jordan’s question only about the risk of transmission in crowds. But he didn’t ask about the government banning churches from holding services while letting street protests go on unabated. “I haven’t seen people during a church service go out and harm police officers or burn buildings but we know for 63 days, nine weeks, it’s been happening in Portland,” Jordan said. “No limits to the protests, but you can’t go to church on Sunday,” pointing out the hypocrisy of picking and choosing First Amendment rights that people can exercise. “I don’t know how many times I can answer that,” Fauci responded. “I’m not going to opine on limiting anything,” Fauci said, getting confused by Jordan’s question. Jordan was simply inviting the garrulous Fauci to talk about life in the Covid-19 era. Jordan can’t understand how the government can tell people to stay out of crowds, yet not limit street protests.
Jordan persisted with Fauci, testing the 80-year-old’s frustration tolerance, watching him lose patience. “Government has stopped people from going to work,” Jordan said, commenting about two people arrested when they went to their gym. “Do you see the inconsistency though, Dr. Fauci.?” Fauci said there was “no inconsistency.” “you’re allowed to protest—millions of people on one day, in crowds, yelling, screaming—but you try to run your business, you get arrested,” Jordan noted. “I don’t know what you’re asking me, as a public health official, to opine on who should get arrested or not. That’s not my position. You could ask me as much as you want, and I’m not going to answer it,” Fauci said, showing limitations likely due to age but possibly because he couldn’t engage with the solidly logical Ohio Congressman on topics outside his baileywick.
Jordan found out the hard way that government bureaucrats like Fauci have a limited range when it comes to intellectually exploring limits to actions that make no sense either Constitutionally or logically. Jordan’s wasn’t trying to frustrate Fauci only get him to engage intellectually, when frankly he’s just not there. Jordan wanted Fauci to acknowledge the inconsistency of allowing people to express First Amendment rights street-protesting when denying the First Amendment rights to go to church. “So protests don’t increase the spread of the virus?” Jordan asked Fauci. “I didn’t say that,” Fauci responded. “You’re putting words in my mouth,” overreacting to Jordan’s line of questioning. Fauci answered Jordan’s question that crowds spread the virus, something to be avoided. What Fauci couldn’t do it take it to another level to understand his advice has real consequences to people.
