Millions of people died during the COVID pandemic, but it "all seems like a very interesting science fair project" to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Rep. Michael Cloud, a member of a House committee questioning the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Newsmax on Tuesday.
"There's a lot he doesn't seem to remember considering he [was] the face of the Coronavirus response," the Texas Republican and member of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus told "Wake Up America."
Committee members will question Fauci for a second day on Tuesday, but the doctor's responses on Monday indicated he believes federal agencies need more power, said Cloud.
"Any time you'd ask him what were some of the lessons learned, his response was well, 'We just need more power for these agencies, more power for the WHO (World Health Organization), more power for these agencies that kept America in check.'"
But Fauci seems to still have the "science fair" attitude that he carried through the pandemic, said Cloud, but "not something where you realize, like what you're saying has the impact literally on whether people live and die."
Millions did die, and countless others had their businesses and livelihoods destroyed by the response to the disease, he added, but Fauci "doesn't seem to gauge the impact of what happened."
Meanwhile, the American people remain frustrated with what happened, said Cloud.
"So many families are still reeling from lost loved ones," he said. "A number of businesses closed and people's livelihoods are gone. [They are] trying to figure out how to make ends meet."
The trust in public health has also been destroyed because of the misinformation being spread by the agencies and entities "that you're supposed to be able to trust" during health emergencies, said Cloud.
Fauci's response to questions about the grant process involved with money allocated through the NIH was also "remarkable," he said, explaining that Fauci told the committee members that he and other officials didn't "really read" the proposals, but signed off on them after the National Advisory Council "votes them in block, usually unanimously."
"It's just troubling to see that these mechanisms that are meant to be layers of accountability end up being layers of plausible deniability," said Cloud.
Meanwhile, the congressman said he hopes Tuesday's testimony will include details of "how [Fauci] made millions during the pandemic.
"Public health experts in some of the small communities who were towing the public line when it came to ivermectin, but yet had a stash in their closet for their own patients," said Cloud. "This created a massive distrust when it comes to public health."
The select committee questioning is going on behind closed doors but will lead to a public hearing in the future, said Cloud.
"Well you know, this is this is leading to a public hearing, and so oftentimes there's depositions that lead and a lot of it's established," he said. "It's very dry, establishing fact patterns. Did you send this email? You know, on this date and those kinds of things. There is interesting information that comes out of it and leads to further investigation."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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