Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said at a recent GOP event in Seminole County that he’s “sick of seeing” Dr. Anthony Fauci and that “someone needs to grab that little elf and chuck him across the Potomac.”
The 81-year-old Fauci has been a frequent target of the popular Florida governor, whose remarks came during a “Keep Florida Free” event. “I’m just sick of seeing him. I know he says he’s going to retire. Someone needs to grab that little elf and chuck him across the Potomac.”
The chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden and infectious disease expert recently announced that he would step down from his position as the chief of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Laboratory of Immunoregulation and director of the NIAID in December, as well as the chief medical adviser to the president.
In his retirement announcement, Fauci said, “I am announcing today that I will be stepping down from the positions of Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation, as well as the position of Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden. I will be leaving these positions in December of this year to pursue the next chapter of my career.” Fauci emphasized that he is not “retiring” but rather “moving on from my current positions.”
He continued, “I want to use what I have learned as NIAID Director to continue to advance science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world to face future infectious disease threats.”
Fauci has been a controversial, divisive figure
The doctor has been a controversial political lightning rod since becoming the face of the federal government’s attempts to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. Many Republicans, including DeSantis, have decried Fauci’s pandemic policy advice.
In a campaign ad that debuted in January, DeSantis tore into Fauci, accusing him of flip-flopping at the expense of freedom in the U.S. The Florida governor also sells “Don’t Fauci my Florida” Koozies and “Fauci Can Pound Sand” flip-flops on his campaign website.
Dr. Fauci has claimed that he has been subject to numerous threats to his safety since he rose to prominence. The doctor and his family were provided a federal security detail in April 2020. Earlier in August, a West Virginia man was sentenced to three years in prison for sending threatening emails to federal officials, including Fauci.
