Republican Senator Rand Paul (KY) has been shot at by a leftist radical, had his leftist neighbor put him in the hospital with broken ribs, and was assailed by Antifa terrorists outside the White House after the 2020 Republican National Convention. But none of that was recalled Tuesday evening when ABC’s World News Tonight backed up Dr. Anthony Fauci’s unfounded claims that the Senator was the reason he had threats made against him.
“There was also an unexpected and very heated moment today on the Hill. Dr. Fauci talking about the threats against his family, describing them,” announced sensationalist anchor David Muir.
Adding: “And today, when Kentucky Senator Rand Paul accused Dr. Fauci of trying to destroy the reputation of other scientists who disagree with him, Dr. Fauci saying that kind of misinformation has led to threats on his life and his family.”
At no point did the network address the receipts Paul brought with him, an e-mail chain that shows Fauci and NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins plotted to discredit colleagues that disagreed with them.
But the facts didn’t stop anti-Republican senior White House correspondent Mary Bruce from picking up Fauci’s smear of Paul and running with it. “At that hearing today, Dr. Anthony Fauci fed up with Republican Senator Rand Paul. Saying his repeated and false attacks are putting Fauci's life at risk,” she declared.
Without citing any evidence of the events being motivated by Paul, Bruce suggested Paul was responsible for an Iowa man targeting Fauci and for an envelope being laced with a white substance:
Today, detailing one of the latest threats against him. A California man arrested during a traffic stop in Iowa last month.
(…)
As the public face of the pandemic response, Fauci has become a frequent target. He's previously described a terrifying experience, opening an anonymous letter delivered to his office, only to be covered in a cloud of white powder he thought might have been a deadly substance. It was later found not to be hazardous.
“Fauci today accusing the Republican Senator of spreading dangerous lies for his own political gain,” she added, playing a soundbite of Fauci holding up a printout of Paul’s campaign website asking for donations with “Fire Dr. Fauci” next to it.
Bruce didn’t even bother to show Paul’s retort. Instead, she simply said “Paul disputed Fauci's claims” and oozed snark when she noted, “the Senator is already trying to fundraise off of this heated exchange with Dr. Fauci.”
She also didn’t play the hot mic audio of Fauci calling another Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Senator Roger Marshall (KS), who’s also a doctor, a “moron.”
Now, NBC Nightly News also didn’t address the Fauci e-mails but they allow a soundbite of Paul defending himself. “For you to somehow suggest that somehow I or people who dare to oppose you are responsible for threats, that's insulting,” he said.
The general tone of the NBC report was that everyone at the hearing was cranky and the “withering criticism” against the health officials came from both the Republicans and the Democrats. And CBS Evening News simply gawked at the exchange.
ABC’s unsupported accusations of death threats tied to Senator Paul was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Purina and Otezla. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
January 11, 2022
6:37:38 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: And in the meantime, you heard Dr. Fauci there talking about the extraordinary nature of this virus. There was also an unexpected and very heated moment today on the Hill. Dr. Fauci talking about the threats against his family, describing them.
The man stopped in Iowa. And what that man told authorities.
And today, when Kentucky Senator Rand Paul accused Dr. Fauci of trying to destroy the reputation of other scientists who disagree with him, Dr. Fauci saying that kind of misinformation has led to threats on his life and his family. Here's Mary Bruce.
[Cuts to video]
MARY BRUCE: At that hearing today, Dr. Anthony Fauci fed up with Republican Senator Rand Paul. Saying his repeated and false attacks are putting Fauci's life at risk.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: What happens when he 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 life -- threats upon my life, harassment of my family.
BRUCE: Today, detailing one of the latest threats against him. A California man arrested during a traffic stop in Iowa last month.
FAUCI: The police asked him where he was going, and he was going to Washington, D.C. to kill Dr. Fauci. And they found in his car an AR-15 and multiple magazines of ammunition, because he thinks that maybe I'm killing people.
BRUCE: Investigators say the man had a hit list, including former Presidents Clinton and Obama, and said he would kill President Biden if he didn't comply with his demands.
As the public face of the pandemic response, Fauci has become a frequent target. He's previously described a terrifying experience, opening an anonymous letter delivered to his office, only to be covered in a cloud of white powder he thought might have been a deadly substance. It was later found not to be hazardous.
Fauci today accusing the Republican Senator of spreading dangerous lies for his own political gain.
FAUCI: Go to Rand Paul website, and you see “fire Dr. Fauci” and little box that says “contribute here.” You can do $5, $10, $20, $100. So, you are making a catastrophic epidemic for your political gain. So, the only --
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): You have politically attacked your colleagues –
[Cuts back to live]
BRUCE: Now, Paul disputed Fauci's claims, but David, tonight, the Senator is already trying to fundraise off of this heated exchange with Dr. Fauci. David?
MUIR: Mary Bruce in Washington. Mary, thank you.
