Fauci Strikes a Different Tone: ‘Go Out There’ and ‘Enjoy’ Halloween

Medical adviser to the president Dr. Anthony Fauci, who made waves last week after stating it was “too soon to tell” if families and friends should gather for Christmas this year, apparently believes it is safe for children to celebrate Halloween, encouraging people to “go out there” and “enjoy” it.

“You can get out there. You’re outdoor, for the most part … and enjoy it,” Fauci said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. “This is a time that children love, it is a very important part of the year for children.”

“It’s a good time to reflect on why it’s important to get vaccinated, but go out there and enjoy Halloween, as well as the other holidays that will be coming up,” he added, encouraging the unvaccinated to get the jab.

Notably, a Morning Consult survey released last week found that the percentage of Americans saying they will participate in Halloween activities is reaching pre-pandemic levels.

As Breitbart News reported:

The survey asked respondents how if they planned to celebrate Halloween this year, and 56 percent said yes, up 14 percent from the 42 percent who said the same last year, in the midst of the pandemic. The year prior, 2019, 57 percent said the same, meaning this year’s data nearly hit pre-pandemic levels.

Nearly all generations, Gen Z (77 percent), Millennials (68 percent), and Gen X (55 percent) say they will celebrate this year. Only 41 percent of Baby Boomers said the same, although that is also near 2019’s pre-pandemic level of 43 percent.

This stands as a stark contrast to the position he initially held last week, telling Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan it is “too soon to tell” if families can gather for the Christmas holiday.

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He later reversed course, asserting his statement was taken “completely out of context.”

“You know, I also said something over the weekend that was taken completely out of context,” Fauci said during an appearance on CNN’s At This Hour. “I was asked what could we predict for this winter, for like December and Christmas.”

“I mean, I say you hold off on that. I said we don’t know because we’ve seen slopes that went down and then came back up,” he explained.

“The best way to assure that we’ll be in good shape as we get into the winter would be to get more and more people vaccinated. That was misinterpreted as my saying we can’t spend Christmas with our families, which was absolutely not the case,” he said, adding he intends to spend Christmas with his family.

“I encourage people, particularly the vaccinated people who are protected, to have a good, normal Christmas with your family,” he added.