Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday got emotional while he discussed “troublesome” death threats he and his family have received since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Dr. Fauci, can you please share with us the nature of the threats you have received since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) asked the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) during a House subcommittee hearing on the nation’s coronavirus response.
“Yes, there have been everything from harassments by emails, texts, letters of myself, my wife, my three daughters,” said Fauci. “There have been credible death threats leading to the arrests of two individuals — and credible death threats means someone who clearly was on their way to kill me. And it's required, my having protective services essentially all the time.”
“It is much more troublesome because they involve my wife and my three daughters,” Fauci continued, visibly emotional.
In his first public testimony since his retirement in 2022, Fauci endured intense questioning from the Republican-led House subcommittee on a range of topics from the United States’ COVID-19 response to the origins of the pandemic, beyond Dingell’s inquiry about his and his family’s safety.
“At these moments, how do you feel?” Dingell asked.
“Terrible,” replied Fauci.
“Do you continue to receive threats today?” Dingell asked.
“Yes, I do,” Fauci said. “Every time someone gets up and says I'm responsible for the death of people throughout the world, the death threats go up.”
