Tell us how you really feel.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers got plenty of attention for his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic. Rodgers, who at the time was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, refused to get the vaccine and, as he put it, found himself in the “crosshairs of the woke mob” and facing criticism from the media for not using his platform to encourage others to get vaccinated.
So you can imagine that he’s not happy that he was forced to answer for his stance while Dr. Fauci can refuse to answer questions.
By now everybody’s probably aware of what happened last week when Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who led the US government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, testified before Congress yesterday. And I use the term “testified” loosely, because he refused to answer any questions.
Fauci was subpoenaed to testify before the United States Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee after chairman Rand Paul released entries from his diary (which he kept on a government computer) that conflicted with what he was saying publicly during the pandemic while embracing his newfound spotlight.
In one entry, dated January 26, 2020, Fauci admits that the infamous Wuhan wet market “was not the source” of the virus, while going on television the next day and saying that it was.
2/9 Jan. 26, 2020. Fauci writes in his diary: “Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier.”
That is January of 2020. The wet market was already off the table in his own private notes. pic.twitter.com/mz0OzcPHgg
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) July 25, 2026
It was also clear that Fauci, who at the time was the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was a BIG fan of…himself, and all the press coverage that he was getting. The doctor wrote several entries bragging about his newfound fame:
“Big front page article abut me appeared in the Washington Post. Very flattering. The situation with my national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable. It is not hyperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable peson in the world.”
He also wrote about having dinner at CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s house in October of 2020, at a time when the government was continuing to advise against contact with those outside of your household. (Remember the ridiculous guidelines for Thanksgiving that year when we were told to eat outside and limit the number of people who were invited?)
Fauci ultimately retired from his position in December 2022, and was given a blanket pardon by President Joe Biden on the final day of his term that covered Fauci’s actions from January 1, 2014 to January 19, 2025.
So yeah, obviously those raise a lot of questions. But despite being immune from criminal prosecution (at least at the federal level) thanks to the pardon, Fauci refused to testify yesterday and instead invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination. In fact, he invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times during the hearing:
The entire circus has become fodder across the internet as everybody jokes about just pleading the fifth instead of answering questions. Last week, even Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio joked about the moment during a press conference at training camp:
“I’m gonna be like Fauci and just take the Fifth Amendment on all questions. Did you guys see that? Oh my God.”
And later on, he had another joke when he was told that Eagles GM Howie Roseman had declined to answer a question about bringing back legendary defensive end Brandon Graham out of retirement to bolster the defense:
“He ducked you? He Fauci’d you?”
Pat McAfee also joked about the moment during his show last week, mockingly “interviewing” Fangio:
And today, Rodgers went scorched earth on the doctor during his appearance on McAfee’s show, calling out the doctor for his failure to answer questions while the media demanded answers from the quarterback.
After McAfee asked Rodgers his mindset coming into what he says is his last season in the NFL, Rodgers decided to pull a Fauci instead:
“I’m gonna plead the fifth, like that absolute coward Tony Fauci. Absolute coward. Are you kidding me? You got a pardon and you plead it over 100 times? What are you scared of Tony? I thought you were the science? ‘I am science’ and you get up there and you can’t answer a question? What are we doing?”
Rodgers then turned his fire on the media who’s letting Fauci get away with not answering questions:
“How much time did the network spend on that? How much time did they spend on my responses every week, on my vaccination status, on Taylor and Travis’s wedding? Did they do even a minute on Tony Fauci? Nah, I bet they didn’t.”
He then called out ESPN – the network that airs McAfee’s show – for failing to adequately cover the Dianna Russini scandal earlier this year, before being encouraged to continue attacking Fauci instead. So of course, he obliged:
“Go back to Fauci? Go back to the coward Tony Fauci, the science? Who’s spending the entire time writing in his diary about how fun it is to be famous? You gotta be kidding me.
What are you going to say about me now? You can’t talk about the COVID stuff because obviously it was made in a lab in China, that’s not even questionable any more. Tony Fauci is an absolute criminal. I’m on good terms with my family. What are you going to say now?”
Clearly feeling vindicated after all these years.
