Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday skewered Fox News host Tucker Carlson, saying he “triggers some of the crazies in society” with his criticism and commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fauci’s barb came during an interview with The Washington Post’s Geoff Edgers, who shared several recent digs Carlson has taken at the doctor, including calling him “Lord Fauci,” a “buffoon” and saying “Fauci has made a lot of wrong predictions.” Carlson has also said, “there is nothing Dr. Anthony Fauci won’t opine on as long as it doesn’t offend the popular and fashionable left.”
In response, Fauci — who is a member of the White House coronavirus response team and serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — said the criticism doesn’t get under his skin, but that he worries it could lead viewers to do something crazy.
“I’m not concerned about what he says,” Fauci said. “It’s a little bit — I think you could say that when he does that, it triggers some of the crazies in society to start threatening me, actually threatening, which actually happens.”
The Washington Post reported in April that Fauci was given extra security due to security threats. Fauci, who is just shy of 80 years old and has served six presidential administrations, said he never could have anticipated that his work would one day have him the target of threats of violence.
“I mean, who would have when I was in medical school doing things to save people’s lives, I’d have to be going around with a security detail?” Fauci added on Friday. “That’s really ridiculous.”
Coincidentally, Fauci was a topic on Carlson’s show again on Friday night, with the top-rated host saying Fauci was a “buffoon” who was “loving” the economic impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Carlson implied that the comment he aired from Facui was recent, instead of from nearly 5 months ago when the coronavirus was in the early stages of spreading.