Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on January 10 vowed that if he became president he would “bring a reckoning” to “tyrants” like Dr. Anthony Fauci, The Hill reported.
In a post on Twitter, DeSantis responded to a New York Post story on Dr. Fauci’s closed-door testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
According to the New York Post, two lawmakers who attended the hearing said Fauci told the subcommittee that he still did not believe that learning loss occurred due to school closures during the pandemic.
In quote-tweeting the New York Post’s tweet about the article, DeSantis said on Twitter that Fauci could not be allowed to “escape accountability.”
The Florida governor, who gained the nickname “DeathSantis” for defying Dr. Fauci’s dictates during the pandemic, added that he was the only presidential candidate who would “bring a reckoning for what tyrants like Fauci” did to the country during the pandemic.
Fauci testified before the subcommittee on January 8 and 9. According to the Post, during his first day of testimony, Fauci repeatedly answered “I do not recall.”
In a Twitter thread on January 10, the subcommittee itemized the highlights from Fauci’s 14-hour testimony.
According to the subcommittee, Fauci admitted that the government’s 6-foot social distancing recommendation was not based on any scientific data. He also admitted that the lab leak theory was not a conspiracy after insisting for years that the origin of the COVID virus was naturally occurring.
Fauci also admitted that the vaccine mandates imposed during the pandemic would likely increase vaccine hesitancy in the future. He also acknowledged that he advised American colleges and universities to impose vaccine mandates for students.
Democrats on the subcommittee accused Republican members of misrepresenting Fauci’s testimony in the closed-door hearing.
Florida Democrat Rep. Kathy Castor told reporters that once the transcript of Fauci’s testimony is available, the public would see that the Republicans “distorted” what Fauci said.
