Fauci: Left’s ‘Adulation’ of Me Wasn’t Correct, I Didn’t ‘Pay Much Attention’ to It — Lockdowns That Aren’t ‘Prolonged’ Work

During portions of an interview with NBC News aired on Wednesday’s “NBC Nightly News,” White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that the extremely favorable and unquestioning favor of him on the left was “inappropriate and sometimes really counterproductive.” And said that he didn’t “pay much attention to” the “unusual” “profound adulation” that he received. Fauci also stated that lockdowns are effective if they are not “prolonged.”

Host Lester Holt said, “You were famously beat up throughout this by voices on the right. But on the left, you had people that were — I mean, they were elevating you to sainthood, Dr. Fauci said it, it’s good.”

Fauci responded, “I think those extremes are, in some respects, inappropriate and sometimes really counterproductive. The profound adulation, which is a little bit unusual here, I don’t pay much attention to that. But also the conspiracy theory distortions of reality and propagation of untruths is also counterproductive.”

Holt also asked, “Vaccines work?” And Fauci responded, “Absolutely, they work.” Fauci also responded in the affirmative when Holt asked if “masks work?”

Holt then asked, “Do lockdowns work?”

Fauci responded, “If done in a temporary way.” And “You don’t want to make it prolonged.”

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