Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, described the CPAC crowd’s cheers to remarks from conservative author Alex Berenson as “horrifying.”
How we got here: Berenson was invited to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which took place on Sunday in Dallas, Texas. During his appearance at the event, Berenson referred to the coronavirus vaccine, saying that “the government was hoping that they could sort of sucker 90 percent of the population into getting vaccinated, and it isn’t happening.”
Berenson was interrupted by cheers from the audience before went on to say that younger people avoided getting COVID-19 jabs because of potential side effects.
What he said: Fauci reacted to Berenson’s comments during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union” with host Jake Tapper.
Tapper asked Fauci to respond to the clip of Berenson at CPAC after he said that he would not play more of his comments “because he just goes on to say things that are not true.”
“It’s horrifying. I mean, they are cheering about someone saying that it’s a good thing for people not to try and save their lives,” Fauci told Tapper, referring to the audience’s reaction to Berenson’s remarks.
“I mean, if you just unpack that for a second, Jake, it’s almost frightening to say, ‘Hey, guess what, we don’t want you to do something to save your life,'” Fauci said.
“Yay. Everybody starts screaming and clapping. I just don’t get that,” the NIAID director added. “I don’t think that anybody who is thinking clearly can get that. What is that all about? I don’t understand that, Jake.”
Fauci also lamented the “inexplicable pushing back” against getting vaccinated from certain Americans.
“We’ve got to put aside this ideological difference or differences thinking that somebody is forcing you to do something,” Fauci said. “The public health officials, like myself and my colleagues, are asking you to do something that will ultimately save your life, and that of your family and that of the community,” he said.
“I mean, it’s ideological rigidity, I think. There’s no reason not to get vaccinated,” Fauci claimed.
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