Critics of Dr. Anthony Fauci taunted him Thursday for watching a baseball game in person without a mask.
Fauci made a public appearance at the Washington Nationals home opener against the New York Yankees, wearing a team-themed mask when he threw out the first pitch.
The team invited Dr. Fauci to recognize his efforts in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, which significantly shortened the baseball season and threatened to cancel it altogether.
After his on-camera appearance, Fauci sat in the stands to watch the game and removed his mask. He was also not properly socially distanced (six feet apart) from two other people in the ballpark.
“And there’s Dr. Anthony Fauci showing us all he knows exactly how well masks work!” wrote former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, a frequent critic of Fauci’s alarmism about coronavirus. “Thanks for the lesson, doc.”
The photo was taken by Associated Press photographer Alex Brandon and was not edited or photoshopped.
Other Fauci critics posted other images of the doctor watching the game without a mask.
Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser enacted a strict mask order on Wednesday ordering people over the age of two leaving their homes would be required to wear a mask with the threat of a fine of up to $1,000 for violating the order.
In March, Fauci said there was “no reason to be walking around with a mask” even though it “might make people feel a little bit better” but has since reversed his opinion in favor of frequent mask-wearing.
In July, Fauci said he did not regret his earlier advice because, “in the context of the time in which I said it, it was correct.”
“When it became clear that the infection could be spread by asymptomatic carriers who don’t know they’re infected, that made it very clear that we had to strongly recommend masks,” he said to InStyle Magazine.