Rand Paul blasts Fauci: 'Astounding and alarming' to declare 'I represent science'

close

Video

Doctor warns against 'making conclusions' on omicron variant amid worldwide concern

Dr. Frita Fisher joined 'Fox Report Weekend' to discuss the new COVID variant.

Dr. Anthony Fauci escalated his spat with some lawmakers over the nation’s COVID-19 response by claiming they oppose "science." 

Fauci has served as the face of the government’s pandemic response, putting him at odds with lawmakers who remain critical of that response. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has frequently sparred with Fauci over various statements and policies the president’s chief medical adviser has made or endorsed. 

NIH DIR. COLLINS: COVID VACCINES WILL ‘MOST LIKELY’ PROTECT AGAINST OMICRON VARIANT, BUT TOO SOON TO TELL

Most recently, Paul blasted Fauci for "obfuscating the truth" about the National Institutes of Health funding gain-of-function research after the organization admitted in a letter to House Oversight Committee Ranking Member James Comer, R-Ky., that a "limited experiment" was indeed conducted.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Fauci, during an interview with "Face the Nation," dismissed opposition from such lawmakers as "noise," saying they’re "really criticizing science." 

BARRASSO SLAMS BIDEN AS ‘MAD HATTER’ ON SPENDING: ‘THIS IS ALICE IN WONDERLAND LOGIC’

"Anybody who’s looking at this carefully realizes that there’s a distinct anti-science flavor to this, so if they get up and criticize science, nobody’s going to know what they’re talking about," Fauci said. "But if they get up and really aim their bullets at Tony Fauci, well people can recognize that there’s a person there, so it’s easy to criticize, but they’re really criticizing science because I represent science." 

Paul took to Twitter Sunday morning to respond to Fauci’s claims, calling it "absolute hubris" for Fauci to declare that he represents science. 

SCHIFF HINTS THAT JAN. 6 COMMITTEE MIGHT MAKE ‘DECISION’ ON HOLDING MARK MEADOWS IN CONTEMPT THIS WEEK

"It’s astounding and alarming that a public health bureaucrat would even think to claim such a thing, especially one who has worked so hard to ignore the science of natural immunity," Paul wrote. 

Sen. Rand Paul speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2021. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Fauci also dismissed a suggestion from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that he should be prosecuted by the attorney general over his comments about the gain-of-function research. Cruz tweeted that "It’s a crime to knowingly lie to Congress, so I asked AG Garland if he'd appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Fauci."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fauci laughed at the suggestion, asking, "What happened on January 6th, senator?" He said "you’d have to be asleep" not to believe that Republicans are trying to "scapegoat" him.

In a five-tweet Twitter thread issued in response to Fauci's comment against him on Sunday, Cruz excoriated Fauci as an "unelected technocrat who has distorted science and facts in order to exercise authoritarian control over millions of Americans."

Saying that Fauci "lives in a liberal world," Cruz went on to cite the section of the U.S. Code that both he and Paul allege Fauci violated when he testified before a Senate Committee in May that "the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology."

Cruz also blasted Fauci for attempting to deflect lawmakers' criticism against him by resorting to "ad hominem insults parroting Democrat talking points," and concluded by reiterating that the DOJ should prosecute him.

Fox News' Charles Creitz and Jon Brown contributed to this report.