President-elect Joe Biden and First Lady-to-be Dr. Jill Biden sang “Happy Birthday” to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday, marking his 80th birthday.
In a tweet by Dr. Biden, which her husband retweeted, the two sang “Happy Birthday, Dr. Fauci,” in different keys.
Dr. Fauci became a hero to the left, largely through his support for shutting down the U.S. economy, as Democrats were attracted to lockdowns as their preferred approach to stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
In campaign rhetoric during the presidential election, Biden contrasted Fauci’s approach to President Donald Trump’s supposed rejection of science — even though Trump had largely followed Fauci’s advice. Biden also said he would not take a coronavirus vaccine that President Trump had recommended, unless Dr. Fauci had also approved it.
Also on Thursday, Dr. Fauci admitted having shifted the goalposts on “herd immunity,” acknowledging that he had slowly raised his estimate of the percentage of the population that would need to be immunized against coronavirus as more people indicated a willingness to take the vaccine.
Earlier this week, Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser proclaimed December 24 — Christmas Eve — to be “Dr. Anthony Fauci Day,” in recognition of his birthday and his work on the pandemic.
It was the latest of many honors Dr. Fauci has received, which included the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a Washington Nationals baseball game.
Fauci’s delivery, as seen above, left much to be desired.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.