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Dr. Anthony Fauci came under heavy fire after he appeared to say the quiet part out loud on how America’s spirit of independence should not get in the way of coronavirus safety.
While pushing back on criticisms that he promotes an “authoritarian” rule on coronavirus measures, the nation’s top infectious disease expert said Americans just need to “do what you’re told,” setting off a firestorm of backlash. Fauci also lamented how science “has been lumped into politics” during a talk at Washington National Cathedral on Friday.
Fauci appeared more optimistic in the wake of Pfizer’s announcement of a vaccine that is more than 90 percent effective, but as he discussed the global nature of the pandemic, he suggested Americans should basically just follow the rules set by the ‘experts’ to help combat the spread of COVID-19.
“There are a number of things we can do. First of all, we’ve got to think globally. Pandemics are global, so we have to pull together globally,” he said at the 2020 Ignatius Forum.
(Source: C-SPAN)
“We need to strengthen our international collaborations. We need to have people speaking to each other in surveillance. It’s got to be open and transparent. When you do that, you can detect it early and respond early,” Fauci continued.
“Scientific approaches, technologies, are going to allow us to do what we did with this outbreak, rapidly make a vaccine. We can do even better than that, but you can’t do science alone. It’s got to be public health and classic science,” the 79-year-old member of the White House coronavirus task force added.
“Are there countries now that hold up as models for a pretty good response to this?” the reporter asked Fauci.
“You know, the answer is yes, but right now it seems that every country is suffering,” he replied.
“We are often compared with countries that are not comparable to us. We are not a little island of 5 million people that we can shut off. We’re not a country that would accept if a ruler tells us ‘You must do this,’” he added.
“I was talking with our U.K. colleagues just today who are saying the U.K. is similar to where we are now, because each of our countries have that independent spirit, we don’t want to be told what to do,” Fauci continued.
“Well, I understand that, but now is the time to do what you’re told,” he said with a laugh. “And I think it really is something that we should be doing right now.”
Fauci also lamented the fact that people do not want to follow guidelines because of the “divisive” state of the country and that the response to the virus has been politicized.
“All of a sudden, science gets caught in a lot of this divisiveness,” he told the audience.
President Donald Trump reiterated that his administration will not be imposing a national lockdown in the near future, as he addressed the latest coronavirus vaccine updates from the Rose Garden on Friday. Trump rolled out the timeline of a vaccine in his first public speech since last week.
Meanwhile, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s coronavirus adviser is calling for nationwide lockdowns that would last for a month or more.
Fauci discussed the potential for another shutdown of the country during an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday.
“Do you believe that we’re headed for a national lockdown?” anchor Robin Roberts asked.
(Source: ABC News)
“You know, I don’t know, we would like to stay away from that, Robin, because there is no appetite for locking down on the American public,” Fauci said, adding, “but I believe that we can do it without a lockdown. I really do.”
“The best opposite strategy to locking down is to intensify the public health measures short of locking down. So if you can do that well, you don’t have to take that step that people are trying to avoid, which has so many implications both psychologically and economically,” he said. “We’d like not to do that.”
“there is no appetite for locking down in the American public, but I believe that we can do it without a lockdown”
-Dr. Fauci 11/12/20“No appetite for locking down”? What does THAT have to do with “SCIENCE”? Suddenly, Fauci finds his inner Trump: it’s about trade-offs#COVID19
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) November 14, 2020
Meanwhile, Fauci’s comments on America’s spirit and the need to just do what they’re told did not go over so well on social media where a resounding “hell no” could be heard.
“Dr. Fauci: ‘Do what you’re told.’ Americans: ‘We can decide for ourselves,'” Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio tweeted.
“These are tyrannical words. Why on EARTH should we blindly obey ‘experts’ who are trampling our freedoms with ANTI-SCIENCE lockdown policies?” political commentator Liz Wheeler asked on Twitter.
“America’s experiment in human liberty needs to be put on hold so ‘the experts’ can take over,” Tom Elliott tweeted.
“Do what we’re told? Screw off. Thanks to the president, not Fauci, vaccines are on the way,” radio and television host Mark Levin wrote.
Fauci is a little tyrant
— Lisa Boothe (@LisaMarieBoothe) November 13, 2020
GO. POUND. SAND.
— Bubba (@Bubba34531005) November 14, 2020
Come and Take It, Fauci.
— TexasTsunami (@TexasTsunami) November 13, 2020
Fauci can shove his “do what you’re told” spirit up where the sun don’t shine as far as I’m concerned.
— President-Elect Jonathan Annis (@Screamer81) November 13, 2020
Citizens now work for the bureaucrats
— dave vivia (@unmuyguapo) November 13, 2020
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Frieda@bizpacreview.com
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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