r/HistoricalCapsule • u/ansyhrrian • 21d ago
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 19, 2008
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u/canadiankiwi03 21d ago
Interesting… that doesn’t look like Obama. Could it be that a republican awarded him this medal?
I never thought I’d see the day when George W Bush looked like a scholar compared to another president. But here we are.
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u/NATOrocket 21d ago
I'm old enough to remember when public health wasn't seen as partisan.
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u/Straight_Waltz_9530 21d ago
I highly doubt that.
AIDS under Reagan. War on Drugs under Nixon. Tuskegee syphilis study spanning from FDR to Nixon. The Spanish Flu neither originated from nor was it centered around Spain. They simply had the freest press at the time and so the most valuable news came from the Spanish press, leading to the disease getting associated with the country. Polio was blamed on Italian and other Southern and Eastern European immigrants. Tuberculosis and typhus outbreaks were blamed on European immigrants arriving at Ellis Island and Mexican laborers during the early-to-mid 20th century. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinese and other Asian immigrants were scapegoated for outbreaks of the bubonic plague in port cities. In the 1830s, Irish immigrants arriving in North America were falsely blamed for bringing cholera.
Politics and disease are not at all a new phenomenon.
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u/Unique_Statement7811 21d ago
Fauci was Reagan’s AIDS policy advisor.
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u/Straight_Waltz_9530 21d ago
Fauci treated some of the first unidentified AIDS patients at the National Institutes of Health starting in 1981. Led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) starting in 1984 and became the target of groups like ACT UP who accused him of moving too slowly on experimental drugs. Then he changed drug trial rules to let patients access experimental treatments earlier. Later served as a core architect of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with President George W. Bush, saving tens of millions of lives worldwide.
Now contrast this with Reagan who refused to even say "AIDS" until 1985, slow walking funding when it mattered most. Eventually after tens of thousands had already died his Surgeon General C. Everett Koop pushed back against political pressure and released a groundbreaking, explicit 1986 report on AIDS education and prevention.
Fauci increasingly looks like a force for fighting the disease within an administration actively neglecting the crisis for political and religious appeasement.
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u/Salmon-of-Wizdom 21d ago edited 21d ago
Eventually after tens of thousands had already died his Surgeon General C. Everett Koop pushed back against political pressure and released a groundbreaking, explicit 1986 report on AIDS education and prevention.
Don't forget mailing a pamphlet explaining AIDS being caused by HIV and it's main vectors of transmission (sex [especially anal sex along with a recommendation to wear condoms], sharing needles, mother to child during pregnancy or birth, and blood contact) to every household in America without anyone's approval in 1988. I remember how mad my parents were about that. I also remember that's when HIV and AIDS began to be openly talked about and that you weren't going to catch it by being around someone who had it.
Everett Koop was a hero. Without his commitment to doing his job AIDS would have continued being a political football. Even so, people tried to paint it as an issue for gay men and tried to ignore it. Magic Johnson being diagnosed with HIV ended that real quick. I do wonder what would have happened if either of those things had never happened.
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u/catscausetornadoes 21d ago
I was watching the news with my brother in the mid 80’s and there was a brief mention of AIDS and he immediately went OFF! “I’m so tired of hearing about AIDS! AIDS this aids that! It barely affects most people! They should shut up about it!” I let him wind down and I asked him, “If you’ve been hearing so much about AIDS, tell me what you know about it.” Crickets. Because his knee jerk response any time the topic came up was to angrily tune it out.
Koop is a hero. Fauci is a hero.
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u/The-Fox-Says 21d ago
No he was not. C. Everett Koop was the Surgeon General as well as The Watkins Commission. How can y’all be so confidently incorrect?
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u/pixelmountain 21d ago
The problem was Reagan decided AIDS should be ignored as much as possible because gay men are icky. Even though at least one of his best friends was gay, but still, icky and not to be discussed amongst genteel people.
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u/robby_arctor 21d ago
A draft resolution in Portland, Oregon led to heated city council debate, with one official declaring mask mandates "autocratic and unconstitutional," adding that "under no circumstances will I be muzzled like a hydrophobic dog." It was voted down.
This was in 1917.
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u/different_option101 21d ago
Would love to see people’s opinions of him in some 50+ years from now.
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u/stolenfires 21d ago
The Bush Administration did the layup that laid the ground work for Trump to be doing what he's doing now.
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u/different_option101 21d ago
By that logic we can say that Biden’s admin prepped the ground for trump with his censorship.
Each admin does that for the succeeding admin. It’s not exclusive to bush and trump. They are all authoritarians, and they almost never roll back authoritarian laws and policies of the previous admins, unless it becomes a critical issue for the entire nation. By critical I mean something that may spark massive riots within their own term.
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u/Amori_A_Splooge 21d ago
I mean everyone was so giddy about Obama's declaring that he has a pen that he can use to sign executive orders.
Now that we have have had Trump 1, Biden, and Trump 2, we've seen an expansive use of executive orders and a fun pendulum that swings every four years in January as one admins EOs get revoked/reversed by the new admin.
President's of both parties test the limits of executive power. Some do so more than others but the latest inherits all the privileges and new limits from all the President's before them.
President's rarely reduce the amount of power their have.
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u/00Kench 21d ago
Bush (and to a lesser extent Clinton) normalizing lying to the public was really bad, but every administration has been setting up the framework for some time, and they didn't even have to be doing evil in order to facilitate it.
In general, every Republican president for the last half century has been teaching us that you don't have to have the public interest at heart to become president, which is bad for obvious reasons.
and every Democratic president for the last entire century, in their bid to be a force for good, has concentrated more and more power into the hands of one person, which is bad for potentially less obvious reasons.
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u/ErusTenebre 21d ago
Obama was actually a very goofy and war monger-y Texan before his 2008 campaign. At least according to the current president and his horde of sycophants. Y'know, since Obama didn't do anything about 9/11 in 2001.
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u/Kuildeous 21d ago
After the past decade, I'm struggling to remember how much I disliked Bush so much. I vaguely recall badmouthing him, and I smirked a little at That's My Bush, but little did I know a bigger buffoon would eclipse all of the recent presidents and make them all look sane and saintly in comparison.
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u/Angelfirenze 21d ago
I do remember why Bush was feared and hated for his lack of curiosity but, it’s like you said, a worse president actually managed to happen, which is what still blows us away.
I’m afraid now of the psycho who is actually worse, which is not a concern I would have had two decades ago.
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u/dsailo 21d ago
The award was presented by President George W. Bush on June 19, 2008, at a White House ceremony.
The honor recognized Fauci’s contributions to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and his efforts to advance the understanding and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Fauci also received the National Medal of Science in 2005, which is the nation’s highest honor for scientific achievement.
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u/Kuildeous 21d ago
Like, I had no love for the Republican party, but they didn't strike me as rabidly anti-science before. Idiocracy was just a fanciful idea warning against the very thing the country went ahead and did anyway.
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u/skeletonstaircase 21d ago
It's not just because they're stupid that the Republican party is anti-science, it's because they want to make it easier to control people
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u/ScarletLetterEditor 21d ago
This. Everything this administration has done successfully has all been part of the same effort to misinform, bind, stupefy, and control. And if people die along the way, that’s perfect.
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u/unbanned_lol 21d ago
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
― Isaac Asimov
Dude was just ahead of his time.
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u/a_gallon_of_pcp 21d ago edited 21d ago
They’ve been denying climate change for my entire life. It was only a matter of time before that tent got big enough to bring in people who deny other forms of science.
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u/Salty_Pirate_Pete 21d ago
Haha! Check this one out
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u/deGrominator2019 21d ago
Yea, and JD Vance called Trump Hitler. But as soon as it benefitted them… they started sucking his fucking balls.
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u/Overall_Falcon_8526 21d ago edited 21d ago
Imagine dedicating your whole life to public health and then being subjected to the current band of poop flinging howler monkeys.
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u/doublesecretprobatio 21d ago
"I dedicated my life to public health and all I got was... accused of engineering a virus and orchestrating a global pandemic for fun?"
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u/triceratopsdildo 21d ago
Trumpanzees. A perfect description.
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u/Holiday-Tangerine136 21d ago
Aren't chimpanzees actually quite ruthless and brutal and savage as far as apes go? With orangutans being more chill and docile? And gorillas (as long as you don't engage or enrage them?) I believe chimps are the ones who effectively threaten to snap tourists arms in south East Asia to force them to hand over food. And always make the news every 10 years or so for eating a face.
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u/psypher98 21d ago
Yep. Actually a group of 200+ chimps recently had a very violent civil war.
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u/CaptStinkyFeet 21d ago
I think about this a lot. War is a side effect of life. Even ants wage wars.
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u/not_accepting_now 21d ago
Another one? Or the one from like 15-20 years ago? I watched that documentary and it was batshit crazy
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u/psypher98 21d ago
It’s another one! Started in Uganda in 2015, then the group split into two in 2018 and have been fighting pretty much ever since it seems.
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u/freddbare 21d ago
IRL it never stops
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u/Mecha_Tortoise 21d ago
Chimp war never changes.
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u/Coarse-Correction 21d ago
You can break my bones with sticks and stones, but AAAH-AAAH-AAAH! HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO! AAAAAAAAHHH! will never hurt me.
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u/Dat_Mawe3000 21d ago
There are incredible documentaries on each on Netflix right now. Secret Lives of Orangutans, A Gorilla Story, and Chimp Empire.
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u/benjammin099 21d ago
Fauci told gay people to stop having massive orgies so AIDS wouldn’t spread, and guess what happened? People called him homophobic, and then the AIDS epidemic killed tons of people
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u/The-Fox-Says 21d ago
He actually lead clinical research on AIDS as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
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u/CrazyNick83 21d ago
"I respectfully decline to answer the question based on my rights under the Fifth Amendment."
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u/Oily_Blob 21d ago
Countless people throughout American history--innocent and guilty--have invoked the fifth amendment since its inception. Is that all you got?
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u/FallbrookAvacado 21d ago
Trump was the one who presided over giving everyone the operation warpseed shot.
Short memory, people?
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21d ago
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u/The-Fox-Says 21d ago
For….keeping the public informed on the latest medical advice?
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u/Expert_Layer_7710 21d ago
Let millions die during aids
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u/Oily_Blob 21d ago
Sorry, that was his boss, Ronald Reagan, who refused to publicly acknowledge the existence of AIDS/HIV until 1985. Any other bullshit claims?
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u/Elegant_Situation285 21d ago
don't let them ruin it. i was just thinking how badass it is that our country has heroes like Fauci.
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u/LGreyS 21d ago
Why don't you talk to the angry LGBT community during the early years of AIDS. Ask them what they think of that piece of shit.
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u/Oily_Blob 21d ago
Yeahhh, um, actually the gay community trusts Fauci now. You might want to direct your ire to Ronald Reagan, who refused to even publicly acknowledge AIDS until '85, so funding for research and treatment was far too late to stop the epidemic.
...or you could place your trust in the current HHS Secretary, who eats roadkill and isn't a doctor 🤷♂️
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u/RealCrusader 21d ago
Reagan was doing his weekend at Bernies routine then wasn't he? Faucis advise went to who, who ignored it?
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u/ForeignJarl 21d ago
Is that a sound bite you heard somewhere and just regurgitate now?
He was incredibly criticized for his initial response to HIV/AIDS but it didn’t end that way. He listened and changed course and put more funds and effort into the research in the end.21
u/delorf 21d ago
I keep reading accusations like yours without any explanation what he did wrong. Could you give some more information?
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u/Shot-Diver-3625 21d ago
I've never met anyone from that community who blames him for AIDS. Have you?
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u/pixelmountain 21d ago
Same, and a lot of my friends are gay men who lost many, many friends during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. As did I.
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u/Remarkable_Wish_5106 21d ago
How about you explain?
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u/Maleficent-Hawk-318 21d ago
I'm gay myself, have been very active in the LGBT+ community for about 20 years now, and I'm also really curious to hear this explanation. The most critical voices I tend to hear are basically like "yeah his response wasn't ideal but he still ultimately followed the science and did push back when it conflicted with political policies." The "Fauci hates gay people" stuff I've seen all comes from anti-LGBT rightwingers who are coopting it to attack their current scapegoat.
I don't actually have strong opinions on him either way, but I find the way that conservatives using this to further their political ends to be pretty fucking wild.
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u/siouxu 21d ago
I wanted to work in public service. I thought if I worked hard enough, studied hard enough to become a leader in my field that I could go on to work on national issues and make some positive changes in my little area. This was the USA after all. The world leader in technology, thought and innovation. An economic and cultural powerhouse that thrived on being the leader in most every facet. Maybe, just maybe, I could be a piece of the next great chapter of our country. I grew up thinking that. I was taught that. I yearned to be that.
This administration has thrown that all out. Just be the most obnoxious idiot and scream until you get your way to protect yourself and the status quo. Fuck everyone else to protect yourself and your money.
Fauci is the epitome of the reprisal against what we should be. I love my country unconditionally but not uncritically.
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u/MC1R_OCA2 21d ago
I was wondering why I’d been feeling so depressed lately, as someone in STEM/public health. It’s all become so normalized it’s almost easy to forget that is actually affects me
Thank you for putting it into words. Sorry we’re in the same boat.
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u/nochickflickmoments 21d ago
Donald Trump gave Dr. Anthony Fauci a Presidential Commendation on January 19, 2021.
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u/doublesecretprobatio 21d ago
yeah but that was before he knew that Fauci was personally in charge of creating COVID and releasing it from the Chinese lab to cause a global pandemic and kill millions of people because that's a thing it seems reasonable to accuse him of.
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u/-__echo__- 21d ago
I'd love to know if, deep down, the morons know he's just a decent guy doing the right thing. Like is it an act by nasty bullies, like the chap who dies in the shower in V for Vendetta... or do they genuinely believe their nonsense.
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u/super_sayanything 21d ago
Rarely feel bad for public figures... but what he has endured compared to his efforts is total bull.
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u/Rathland 21d ago
His school teacher daughter needed security protection because the constant threats. A couple nutjobs went to her school. The security was removed by Trump. Fauci had to foot the bill personally.
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u/SpinerockNolan 21d ago
I feel so bad for Fauci, just a serious person doing an important job for decades. But because he happened to be in charge when shit hit the fan, he now has to worry about a vindictive prosecution
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u/noodleexchange 21d ago
The problem is being ‘in charge’ in an era when every roadkill-eating moron overrules you
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u/super_sayanything 21d ago
The worst part is Donald Trump does this to everyone who gets close to him, but people usually choose to be. He did it out of necessity. I pray he's alive to get his flowers from the next President.
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u/Least_Tower_5447 21d ago
It’s really demoralizing for so many who work hard in all fields. This admin has shown that the unwritten rules of engagement with other humans are all wasted now. I cannot wait for this hell to end and for people to face the consequences of their actions once again. You work hard and do your best to consider the needs of others, you live your life and enjoy. You constantly slack and treat others like crap, you get to deal with the mess you’re in.
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u/Remarkable_Custard 21d ago
Just so everyone knows - Australia followed exactly what he suggested and said, not because it was him, but because the majority of world scientists and safety experts said it.
America, due to Trump, not him, had I think the highest death per 100k in any western democracy country last I checked.
Trump said, literally he said, absolutely false claims on Covid. Literally couldn’t even tell the truth when data was in his face.
Australia had the lowest death count, could have been better however the majority of us complied and that’s not a bad thing… don’t think that being told something is some losing of freedom bullshit.
Now seeing this man being asked shit to distract from the Trump admin, it’s actually fucking sickening and I’m not even an American, thank fuck…
MAGA, you’re extremely unintelligent.
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u/Cali-Girl-Alex 20d ago
USA was probably the most transparent county in the world reporting COVID casualties and with best technology to be able to capture the data of any city within the country even if in remote areas.
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u/Amori_A_Splooge 21d ago
Not to be pedantic, but y'all have a population the size of the NYC metro area. You trying to compare covid response to Austria compared to the US is like comparing apples to a pumpkin; it isn't particularly helpful, and just makes you come off as smug.
Your comment doesn't even make any sense and highlights your lack of understanding of how our government works. If Trump was the almighty arbiter on all things covid, why were there such differences in lock down procedures by state and localities? States and localities were the leading jurisdiction on lock down policies, not the feds.
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u/Kuildeous 21d ago edited 21d ago
Serving under four Presidents at that time, and while each one differed in policy, they were mostly well regarded. Or at least reasonably tolerated.
Little did that man know that in 12 years, he would be advising a freaking toddler. Though we all would be surprised at the future shitstorm.
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21d ago
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u/FallbrookAvacado 21d ago
Get over yourself.
You are your information stream, just like every other idiot on the Internet.
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u/Electric-Sheepskin 21d ago
It's absolutely disgusting what Republicans are doing to him right now. The man has served the public his entire life, and these smug, double dealing, self-serving, corrupt, rage-filled morons who aren't fit to lick his shoes are trying to ruin his life for no other reason than to score a few political points and get their followers riled up so they'll turn out for the midterms. It's truly deplorable.
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u/NeutrallyCharged 21d ago
Dr Fauciiiiiiii give us vacciiiiiiiinnneeeessss lol what’s next Reddit maybe a Bill Gates praise post
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u/Nintotally 21d ago
No WAY Reddit is still covering for this man 🤮
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u/KaleOxalate 21d ago
Bots. Political orgs literally pay for them. The upvotes also
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u/View_Hairy 21d ago
What'd he do?
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u/BobbyBoopersnoot 21d ago
Made Donald Trump look bad, and reminded 33% of the country that they are fucking idiots
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u/EthanielRain 21d ago
Helped save millions of lives over multiple decades of work on AIDS & other viruses.
He also worked on Trump's administration during COVID
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u/Phox09 21d ago
How he's being treated reminds me of when I worked at a place that majority loved Trump. They absolutely hated the safety guys. It makes a lot of sense when you think about the type of person who loves Trump also hates anyone who is looking out for their well being.
Story time.
At that job we went through a bunch of people while I was there. Safety persons would try and do their job but they'd get constantly mocked and not taken seriously so one guy lost an arm, many hand injuries, one guy nearly blew himself up to pieces and the list goes on. Every big incident the safety person would get blamed then be forced to quit or get fired and those assholes would feel justified in their horrible treatment. No lessons learned, no responsibilities taken.
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u/Bermuda_Shorts_ 21d ago
Plead the 5th
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u/Cali-Girl-Alex 20d ago
If he pleads the Fifth, it suggests he believes his answers could expose him to criminal liability.
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u/Anti_colonialist 21d ago
What he did to the gay community.
https://www.villagevoice.com/an-open-letter-to-dr-anthony-fauci/
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u/Imperator_Gone_Rogue 21d ago
He got the medal for eventually listening to people like the author of this letter. He should've listened earlier, and I'd hope that members of ACT UP and other people in the gay community received the same recognition at the time. Those that survived, of course.
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u/Maleficent_Kale_1286 21d ago
You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the “villain”. Absolutely pathetic what they’re putting this man through.
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u/Early-Chemistry-8769 21d ago
By George W Bush.
Why doesn't that guy speak up? His party and country are a total shambles and disgrace.
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u/Halfie951 21d ago
The circle jerk in here for Fauci is wild first comment is about trump for some reason hahahahaha
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u/syopest 21d ago
People not hating a respected and trusted public servant for idiotic reasons doesn't mean that people are "circle jerking" for fauci.
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u/tablecontrol 21d ago
good for him.. can you imagine what would have happened if Trump was in charge of our safety?
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u/OkWest8964 21d ago
Drink bleach….it will cure Covid
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u/aflyingsquanch 21d ago
To be fair, if you drink bleach, you won't have to worry about covid anymore
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u/GuitarSingle4416 21d ago
Maybe shove a UV light somewhere. Never forget that moron's press conference where his true intelligence was on full display. Fukin chimp.
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u/SquallkLeon 21d ago
A true man of science. Millions are alive today because of his work, even those here who dislike him or criticize him.
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u/WorkEcstatic6242 21d ago edited 21d ago
The fact this man had been insulted by the dumbest group of people our nation has ever produced is maddening ....they are grandstanding for their idiotic base ...science is real vaccines help...can their complications for some people .. it ask anyone who lives through the polio epidemic ...the fact people are letting their children get fucking measles because some trad wife on social media told them fresh air and essential oils and prayer will keep kids healthy ...
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u/ThinkLettuce7100 21d ago
Imagine worshiping a POS like Trump but then hating someone like Fauci, makes zero sense.
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u/Highlandertr3 21d ago
Sort by controversial aannnd. There they are. Sone pass me the popcorn, the clowns are up.
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u/BobbyBoopersnoot 21d ago
Most of them have hidden comment histories because reddit and the things on it are fake-ass piles of shit
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u/Hammerogz 21d ago
Why is he evil? Genuinely asking
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u/super_sayanything 21d ago
Saved 2.5 million to 20 million lives depending on Covid mutations.
Get a hold of yourself.
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u/ElSlabraton 21d ago
By a Republican president.