Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith sharply criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci and Democratic leaders following the former public health official’s contentious Senate hearing, arguing that Fauci’s repeated invocation of the Fifth Amendment cast a shadow over his role during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on his “Straight Shooter” program, Smith reacted to Fauci’s appearance before the Senate, where the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases declined to answer questions more than 100 times by invoking his Fifth Amendment rights.
During the segment, Smith played a clip from 2022 in which Fauci said he was “very happy” to testify before Congress because he had “nothing to hide.”
Smith contrasted those earlier remarks with Fauci’s recent Senate testimony, during which the longtime public health official refused to answer questions from Republican lawmakers on issues including COVID-19 lockdown policies and other pandemic-related decisions.
While Smith acknowledged Fauci’s lengthy career in public service, he argued that the hearing damaged the former health official’s public image.
Smith praised Fauci’s decades of service and referred to his credentials as “impeccable,” but said those accomplishments do not place him beyond criticism.
“There is no question that imperfections stain him right now,” Smith said. “This was not a good day for Dr. Fauci. He looks very bad, very bad.”
Smith also acknowledged that Fauci’s legal strategy may have influenced his decision to repeatedly invoke the Fifth Amendment.
“And yes, through the advice of his lawyers, and yes, your lawyers compel you to do something, and they probably wanted him to plead the Fifth on many occasions before he finally relented and did it yesterday,” Smith said.
Despite recognizing that attorneys may have advised Fauci’s approach, Smith argued that the former public health official’s influence during the pandemic made his refusal to answer questions particularly significant.
“The bottom line is this man held dominion over the lives of a nation, if not the world, with what he was imploring and mandating,” Smith said. “Everybody was listening to him!”
Smith then criticized several COVID-era public health recommendations associated with Fauci, including mask guidance, social distancing, lockdowns, natural immunity policies and statements regarding vaccines.
“Fauci was damn-near encouraging us to wear two, three masks at a time. We barely could breathe,” Smith said.
He also questioned the six-foot social distancing recommendation, saying Fauci later acknowledged it was not backed by science.
“We can’t ignore that. Where’d he get that from?” Smith asked. “He later admitted that it wasn’t backed by science. He’s just coming up with this stuff!”
Smith went on to cite pandemic lockdowns, natural immunity and claims regarding vaccines’ ability to prevent infection and transmission as additional issues.
“This is all shady sh*t! It is!” Smith said. “And the Democrats have nothing to say.”
Fauci’s Senate appearance grew increasingly contentious after hours of declining to answer questions from Republican lawmakers.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-Ky.) warned Fauci that the committee would vote next week on whether to hold him in contempt of Congress following his repeated invocation of the Fifth Amendment.
According to the article, legal experts remain divided over whether such a contempt effort would ultimately withstand judicial scrutiny if pursued.
Smith’s comments added another prominent voice to the growing public debate surrounding Fauci’s testimony, with the commentator arguing that the hearing raised serious questions about the former public health official’s actions during the pandemic while criticizing Democrats for what he described as their silence in response.
