White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci was caught on a hot mic Tuesday calling Republican Sen. Roger Marshall (Kan.) “a moron” during his testimony before the Senate Health Committee on the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The remark came after Marshall questioned Fauci about disclosing more of his personal finances to Congress. The GOP senator cited a Forbes story that reported that Fauci is the highest-paid federal employee, earning $434,312 in 2020. “I don’t understand why you’re asking me that question,” Fauci said. “My financial disclosure is public knowledge and has been so for the last 37 years or so.” “The big tech giants are doing an incredible job of keeping it from being public,” Marshall responded. “We’ll continue to look for it.
Where would we find it?” “All you have to do is ask for it,” Fauci said. “You’re so misinformed, it’s extraordinary.” After the heated back-and-forth ended, Fauci could be heard muttering, “What a moron” and “Jesus Christ” in a viral clip of the exchange tweeted by Mediaite.
Fauci also clashed with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) about the senator’s personal attacks against him. Fauci said Paul’s attacks put him and his family in danger, citing a recent incident in which police arrested a man with a firearm who claimed that he was traveling from Sacramento to Washington, D.C., in order to “kill Dr.