Why Today’s Senate Appearance Is Not Helping Anthony Fauci

As laid out on today’s forthcoming Three Martini Lunch podcast, it’s understandable that critics of Dr. Anthony Fauci are frustrated by his performance before the Senate today, repeating “under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment” like a malfunctioning Westworld robot. (Note that former president Joe Biden’s pardon of Fauci covers January 1, 2014, to January 19, 2025. It would not cover perjury, contempt of Congress, or any other crime committed after January 19, 2025.)

But I think today’s performance is strengthening the anti-Fauci argument and weakening the pro-Fauci argument; you find fewer Fauci superfans in the circles of Democratic elites today than you did in 2021, and no one is quite as eager to run to the ramparts to defend Fauci’s reputation as they were a few years ago.

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Jim Geraghty

Jim Geraghty is the senior political correspondent of National Review.

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As laid out on today’s forthcoming Three Martini Lunch podcast, it’s understandable that critics of Dr. Anthony Fauci are frustrated by his performance before the Senate today, repeating “under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment” like a malfunctioning Westworld robot. (Note that former president Joe Biden’s pardon of Fauci covers January 1, 2014, to January 19, 2025. It would not cover perjury, contempt of Congress, or any other crime committed after January 19, 2025.)

But I think today’s performance is strengthening the anti-Fauci argument and weakening the pro-Fauci argument; you find fewer Fauci superfans in the circles of Democratic elites today than you did in 2021, and no one is quite as eager to run to the ramparts to defend Fauci’s reputation as they were a few years ago.