Fauci Calls Republican Senator 'A Moron' For Spreading Disinformation During Pandemic Hearing

Dr. Anthony Fauci found himself calling a U.S. Senator "a moron" under his breath on Tuesday, Jan. 11, after another Senate hearing regarding vaccine policies became another public political fight between the health official and the Republicans.

Fauci found himself being interrogated by Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall about his finances, accusing the Chief Medical Adviser of the Biden administration of hiding secret illicit financial transactions from the public, according to Politico.

“As the highest-paid employee in the entire federal government, would you be willing to submit to Congress and the public a financial disclosure that includes your past and current investments?” Marshall asked.

Fauci, who found himself exasperated by the line of questioning that Marshall chose to tackle, reminded the Senator that his financial disclosure reports are publicly available through a Freedom of Information Act request or other ways, MSNBC reported.

“All you have to do is ask for it,” Fauci said. “You’re so misinformed, it’s extraordinary.”

Sen. Marshall continued the line of questioning for the duration of his time, even asking Dr. Fauci about how he can acquire the documents online. Then, after Sen. Marshall’s time had ended, Fauci’s frustration at the situation allowed the mic to catch a candid moment from him.

“What a moron,” Fauci said quietly. “Jesus Christ.”

Sen. Marshall, who has known ties to far-right personalities and movements, was later denounced by Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Ian Sams for diverting attention from the policy meeting and instead focusing on unsubstantiated claims about Fauci.

This was not the only moment where Fauci found himself butting heads with Republican Senators: he continued his feud with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, accusing the Senator of making false accusations about him for monetary gain, according to the Associated Press.

The Senate hearing also voiced out frustrations regarding the current COVID-19 policy, and Senators complained about the lack of at-home testing kits to see if people had COVID, thus allowing them to not spread it publicly.