Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) launched a profanity-laced attack on Dr. Anthony Fauci during a Senate hearing Wednesday, as the former White House chief medical adviser repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right. The exchange, part of a contentious session on the origins and government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, underscored the deepening partisan divide over public health measures.
Moreno said his decision to run for office was sparked by learning about a woman arrested at an Ohio middle school football game in 2020 for refusing to wear a mask, which violated school policy at the time. “Here I am sitting in front of you six years later, saying, who the f— do you think you were for doing that?” Moreno asked Fauci, apparently referring to the doctor’s support for masking requirements during the health crisis.
“It is a total disgrace what you did to this country, and if my Democrat colleagues are standing there defending you, I hope the voters, the United States of America, watch the clips of every one of you doting on a guy who is more interested in being a celebrity than saving American people,” Moreno added.
As Fauci continued to decline answering questions from Republican senators, citing the Fifth Amendment, Moreno had an aide hand the scientist a small copy of the U.S. Constitution. Moreno asked Fauci if he knew what the Fifth Amendment said, to which Fauci again responded by invoking that right after conferring with his attorney. One of Fauci’s lawyers accepted the document on his behalf.
“Do you feel like you’re in deep s—?” Moreno asked Fauci, referencing a 2023 Washington Free Beacon article that described Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, as a lawyer clients call only when “you’re in deep s—.” Earlier in the hearing, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ordered Schertler removed from the room after the attorney repeatedly tried to defend Fauci’s Fifth Amendment right. Paul refused to recognize Schertler when he attempted to speak, a move that drew criticism from Democrats. For more on that clash, see Rand Paul orders Fauci's lawyer removed from Senate hearing.
During Moreno’s questioning, Fauci also declined the senator’s request to turn around and face audience members who had spoken out against the government’s handling of the pandemic under his leadership. Among those standing was Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “Dr. Fauci, can you just turn around and look at the people behind you? You’re not willing to do that? It’s not a question. … It’s a request,” Moreno said. “All you have to do is look up from your lawyers and look at the people who were absolutely shamed for saying what we know now to be the truth. You can’t even look at them?” In response, Fauci turned in his chair to face his lawyers.
The hearing came amid a broader Republican push to scrutinize Fauci’s role in the pandemic response, including the release of his diaries and questions about COVID-19 origins. Democrats accused Republicans of conducting a partisan vendetta, as seen in Peters accuses Paul of partisan vendetta in Fauci hearing clash. The session highlighted the ongoing political fallout from the pandemic, with both sides using the testimony to energize their bases ahead of the 2024 elections.
