Fauci says he puts ‘very little weight in the craziness of condemning me’

Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert and chief medical adviser to President Biden, said in an interview set to be released on Monday that he puts “very little weight in the craziness of condemning” him.

Fauci made the remarks in an upcoming episode of the New York Times podcast “Sway,” which was first shared with Axios.

“It is essential as a scientist that you evolve your opinion and your recommendations based on the data as it evolves. … And that’s the reason why I say people who then criticize me about that are actually criticizing science,” Fauci said in the podcast. 

“[T]he people who are giving the ad hominems are saying, ‘Ah, Fauci misled us. First he said no masks, then he said masks,'” said Fauci. “Well, let me give you a flash. That’s the way science works. You work with the data you have at the time.”

After serving 37 years as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci said he puts “very little weight in the adulation, and very little weight in the craziness of condemning me.”

Fauci has become a target for many right-wing lawmakers, particularly Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) who has repeatedly attacked him during multiple Senate hearings. Controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced a bill in April that would strip Fauci of his salary, though it is unclear if this move would even be authorized if the bill was passed.

“[I]t gets preposterous, and the thing that bothers you most of all is the impact it has on your family,” said Fauci, who is married to Christine Grady, Chief of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health, with whom he has three daughters.

“Getting death threats and getting your daughters and your wife threatened with obscene notes and threatening notes is not fun. So I can’t say that doesn’t bother me,” he said.