Anthony Fauci Claims Donald Trump, Republicans Push ‘Conspiracy Theories’ Against Him

Dr. Anthony Fauci at a Friday Commencement speech accused Donald Trump and Republicans of pushing conspiracy theories against him.

“While genuine differences of opinion or ideology are part of a healthy society, increasingly we are hearing, reading and seeing outlandish statements and pronouncements propped up by deliberate distortions of reality,” Fauci prefaced during his keynote address at the City College of New York in Harlem.

Fauci then took a defensive position toward his political opponents, who have accused him of lying to Congress about funding gain-of-function research in a Chinese laboratory. Fauci said:

It is blatantly obvious that we are experiencing a deepening divisiveness in our nation, fed by a flagrant devaluation of the truth. While genuine differences of opinion or ideology are part of a healthy society, increasingly we are hearing, reading and seeing outlandish statements and pronouncements propped up by deliberate distortions of reality.

Fauci has taken heat from Republicans over coronavirus misinformation for which many say Fauci should be fired and jailed. But Fauci pushed back against his Republican opponents during the speech, calling them “radical fringe groups” who push “conspiracy theories and outright lies” from “people who you would hope would know better.”

“And you know who they are,” Fauci said, seemingly suggesting Donald Trump and Republicans.

Just two days prior, Fauci was asked by Fox News if he would serve again under Trump. Fauci responded he would “not get involved in any politics about who is or is not going in the White House.”