Dr. Fauci blasts critics after email dump, claims criticism of him is 'anti-science'

Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to the controversy surrounding his emails Friday, denouncing renewed criticism of his job performance and pandemic-related decisions as "anti-science."

BuzzFeed News published more than 3,000 of Fauci's work emails last week, which were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The emails, according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), paint a "disturbing picture of Dr. Fauci, from the very beginning." Supporters of Fauci, however, dismissed the email dump as a nothing-burger.

What did Fauci say?

Speaking with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, Fauci claimed criticism of him is really a manifestation of anti-science attitudes.

"What is the thread going through, what's happening now, is very much an anti-science approach," Fauci said. "I mean, it is what it is, I'm a public figure, I'm going to take the arrows and the swings, but they're just, they're fabricated."

"My job was to make a vaccine and use my institute and its talented scientists that we have there. And that we fund in the various universities to get a vaccine that was highly safe and highly effective. And we succeeded. That's what I do," Fauci continued. "All the other stuff is just a terrible, not-happy type of a distraction. But it's all nonsense."

Later in the interview, Maddow claimed "the right" is exploiting the discovery of the origin of COVID-19 and the Wuhan lab leak theory, which she called a "conspiracy theory," as yet another avenue to personally attack Fauci.

Fauci agreed with Maddow's assessment.

"It is important to understand [the origin of COVID-19], but it is being approached now in a very vehement way, in a very distorted way, I believe by attacking me," Fauci said.

"I think that the question is extremely legitimate, you should want to know how this happened so that we can make sure it doesn't happen again," he continued. "But what's happened in the middle of all that, I become the object of extraordinary, I believe, completely inappropriate, distorted, misleading and misrepresented attacks, which, you know, it is what it is, but it's it's happening. And that's unfortunate."

Fauci made similar accusations of his critics last Wednesday.

Speaking with MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, Fauci claimed that his critics, especially those who denounce his wavering positions, do not "understand" that "science is a dynamic process."