Fox Business is not universally known for holding Republican or MAGA sources accountable for falsehoods when they’re in front of cameras. That’s why a quick correction of bloviation from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) was such a shock.
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On Wednesday, armed with thousands of pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s private pandemic diaries, Senate Republicans had planned to grill Fauci over alleged inconsistencies as the science of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to evolve over the pandemic’s history.
But Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, pleaded the Fifth and refused to answer questions as he squared off square off with committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and the hearing devolved into a letdown for Paul and Republicans.
Paul indicated during the hearing Wednesday that he plans to hold a committee vote next week to declare Fauci in contempt of Congress. And other Republicans ranted their frustration before reporters later that day.
“He put this country in a tailspin,” Tuberville told Fox Business. “He almost bankrupted our country worth what they did. Between Obama and Biden this guy get’s ‘Weasel of the Year’ award.”
Tuberville went on to vow Fauci would “eventually end up broke or in prison [because] I’m eventually gonna be governor of Alabama … and we’re gonna sue the heck out of this guy.”
“He’s going to court everyday of his life for the rest of his life … because the pardon doesn’t cover state government. And we’re gonna go after him with everything we got because the guy killed or had something to do with the killing of 9 million people.”
“Yeah, we can’t prove that,” the Fox Business anchor immediately countered. “That’s yet to be determined how many people are due to that.”
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“Oh, yeah. We can determine it,” Tuberville insisted. “… He was the guy that funded this.”
You said you can determine it. We understand that. We understand that you want to move to do that,” the host corrected.
“Just another day on Capitol Hill,” said reporter Jamie Dupree on X.
Another critic raged: “9 MILLION?! The official Covid-19 death toll stands at ~1,123,000.”
“This is such an utterly insane thing to say,” said another. “This has gotten way out of hand. Trump should honestly speak up for Fauci at this point if he has any goodness in him whatsoever.”
Other hecklers pointed out that the Fox anchor’s instant fact check only happened because the network has lost very expensive lawsuits for past lies.
“Thank God Fox News has lost a few very expensive lawsuits recently, otherwise you know damn well her response would be more along the lines of “and some say it’s even double that,” said the critic on X.
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