- Dr. Anthony Fauci met with Rep. Jim Jordan at a House subcommittee hearing on Friday about whether the government should crack down on protests to curb the spread of COVID-19.
- “I am not in a position to determine what the government can do forcefully,” Fauci said, adding: “You must stay away from the crowds, no matter where the crowds are.”
- Jordan repeatedly tried to corner Fauci into saying that the government should limit the protests, but Fauci declined, saying it was not his place to assess what the government should or should not do.
- “I don’t understand what you’re asking me, as a public health official, to say who should be arrested or not,” Fauci said. “That is not my position. You can ask me anything you want and I will not answer.”
- Scroll down to see a clip of the exchange.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan were furious on Friday during a House subcommittee hearing on the new coronavirus.
Jordan, one of President Donald Trump’s largest attack dogs on Capitol Hill, repeatedly asked Fauci to assess whether widespread protests helped spread COVID-19.
Fauci said that, in general, large crowds, particularly those that include people who do not wear masks, contribute to increasing infection and transmission rates.
“Should the government limit the protest?” Jordan asked.
“I don’t think that is relevant,” Fauci said, adding: “I am not in a position to determine what the government can do forcefully.”
Jordan put pressure on Fauci and said, “You make all kinds of recommendations.”
He said that state governments were limiting people who attended religious services and asked Fauci: “Is there a world in which the Constitution says that you can favor a freedom of the First Amendment, protesting, over another, practicing your faith?”
“I am not favoring anyone over anyone,” Fauci said. “I’m just making a statement that is broad, that avoids crowds of any kind, no matter where you are, because that leads to acquisition and transmission. And I don’t judge a crowd in front of another crowd. When ‘being in a crowd , especially if you don’t wear a mask, that induces the spread. “
“I have not seen people during a religious service go out and harm police officers or burn buildings, but we know that for 63 days, nine weeks, it has been happening in Portland,” Jordan said, referring to protests against racism and the policeman. brutality in the city since the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day. Many of the protests turned into violence after federal law enforcement officers used tear gas, rubber bullets, and other materials to disperse protesters.
“There is no limit to the protests,” Jordan said, but “you can’t go to church on Sunday.”
“I don’t know how many times I can answer that,” Fauci replied. “I’m not going to comment on limiting anything.”
Jordan stepped back and told Fauci that he had “made a point about many things.”
“You have to stay away from the crowds, no matter where the crowds are,” Fauci said.
“The government has prevented people from going to work,” Jordan said, citing reports of two people who were arrested after reopening their gym. He added: “Do you see the inconsistency, Dr. Fauci?”
Fauci said “there was no inconsistency.” Jordan replied, “You are allowed to protest, millions of people in one day, in crowds, yelling, yelling, but trying to run your business, are you arresting him?”
Fauci, who seemed increasingly frustrated, said: “I do not understand what you are asking me, as a public health official, to say who should be arrested or not. That is not my position. You could ask as much as you want, and not I’m going to answer it. “
Jordan later claimed that Fauci had said the protests increased the spread of the virus, but Fauci rejected it. “I said crowds,” he said. “I didn’t say specifically, I didn’t say protests.”
“So the protests don’t increase the spread of the virus?” Jordan said.
“I didn’t say that,” said Fauci. “You are putting words in my mouth.”
He added: “I can tell you that crowds are known, particularly when you don’t have a mask, to increase acquisition and transmission, no matter what the crowd is.”
-Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 31, 2020
The death toll from the United States’ coronavirus this week exceeded 151,000, the highest in any country. When asked how other countries managed to control their COVID-19 outbreaks, Fauci said that when the pandemic started, countries in Europe and Asia closed 95% of their economies, while the United States closed only 50%.
At the hearing, South Carolina representative Jim Clyburn showed a chart showing the increase in cases in the United States compared to cases in Europe, sparking Trump’s anger.
“Someone please tell Congressman Clyburn, who has no idea, that the table he put up indicating more CASES for the US than for Europe is because we do MUCH MORE tests than any other country in the world,” Trump tweeted.
—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2020
But multiple public health officials and scientific experts have pointed out that while the United States has rapidly expanded its testing and contact-tracking capabilities, that alone does not explain the increase in new cases.
“That states are finding more cases relative to the amount of testing they are conducting provides the strongest rebuttal to the administration’s claim that case numbers are increasing because we are improving case-finding through further evidence, “Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote in The Washington Post last month.
“We are told otherwise, that each of these states needs to do even more testing to find infections, followed by more rigorous contact screening and isolation.”
