Sen. Bernie Moreno isn’t backing down after his profanity-laced confrontation with Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The Ohio Republican went on Hannity Thursday and accused the former government health official of using the COVID-19 pandemic to control Americans.
“This is about controlling American people,” Moreno said. “He treated us like lab rats.”
Moreno argued that Fauci became a hero to Democrats because he wielded enormous power over daily life during the pandemic.
“You want to give power to Democrats, socialists and communists in this country? They will take away your freedoms, they will take away your liberties, they’ll control you, they’ll replace you,” Moreno said.
“They want to systematically destroy this country, and that’s why Fauci is their hero. He got to do what they only fantasize about, which is total and complete control of the American people.”
The interview came one day after Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a heated Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
Fauci declined to answer more than 100 questions on the advice of his attorneys, according to the Associated Press.
That didn’t sit well with Moreno.
The senator told Fauci that pandemic restrictions had inspired him to run for office. Then he unloaded.
“Here I am sitting in front of you six years later saying, ‘Who the f— do you think you were for doing that? It is a total disgrace what you did to this country,’” Moreno said.
Asked Thursday whether he regretted the outburst, Moreno stood by it.
“The reality is this guy damaged a lot of things in this country,” he said, blaming pandemic policies for harming children, closing small businesses and stripping Americans of basic freedoms.
Fauci said he invoked the Fifth because committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., had repeatedly called for his prosecution. He argued that answering questions could expose him to a new investigation despite the federal pardon he received from former President Joe Biden.
Paul released more than 1,000 pages of Fauci’s pandemic-era diary ahead of the hearing. The Kentucky Republican says those notes show Fauci privately held views about COVID-19 that conflicted with some of his public statements. Fauci has denied deceiving Congress or the public.
Moreno wants prosecutors to take another look.
“We know he lied to the American people,” Moreno alleged. “State attorneys general, like the one in Florida, I hope the one in Ohio does the same thing. We got to pursue this guy.”
Watch the clip above.
