Conservatives mercilessly ridiculed National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director Dr. Anthony Fauci after a viral clip depicted him bragging that he symbolizes "consistency," "truth" and human "caring," especially in an era of the "normalizations of untruths and lies."
The clip came from a Tuesday interview between Fauci and Dr. Larry Corey at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center campus in Seattle, Washington, where Fauci was present to receive an award.
During that same discussion, Fauci also made flippant jokes about cooking up the COVID-19 strain in his kitchen, a dig at critics who claim his research is to blame for the origin of the virus.
Though this other statement seemed to be as outrageous to conservatives. Fauci discussed what he called the "Fauci Effect," this idea that he himself has come to symbolize truth in a world rampant with untruths.
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"It’s called the Fauci Effect," he began, adding, "which is sort of like, you know – trust me, I don’t get excited about that."
Despite trying to appear humble, he stated, "People go to medical school now, people are interested in science – not because of me, because most people don’t know me, who I am… It’s what I symbolize."
He continued claiming, "And what I symbolize in an era of the normalization of untruths and lies, and all the things you’re seeing going on in society, from January 6th to everything else that goes on – people are craving for consistency, for integrity, for truth and for people caring about people."
Though conservatives on Twitter saw this as extreme self-aggrandizement to the point of narcissism.
"The Fauci Effect is when you become a megalomaniacal narcissist," conservative journalist Ian Miles Cheong tweeted.
Conservative radio host Michael Berry compared Dr. to Fauci to a Ponzi scheme legend, writing, "Anthony Fauci is the Bernie Madoff of public health."
Young Americans for Liberty slammed Fauci hard, tweeting, "Some people claim Dr. Fauci is a narcissist. But if you watch this video you will see that this claim is actually entirely and emphatically true."
Conservative Partnership Institute policy director Rachel Bovard provided her impression of so-called "Fauci effect," tweeting, "There are two ‘Fauci effects.’ The first is the one Fauci apparently named after himself. The second is the huge swath of people who no longer implicitly trust the medical establishment because of this guy."
The Blaze’s Matt Kibbe mocked the NIAID director’s apparent routine narcissism, tweeting, "Old Tony Fauci: ‘Attacks on me, quite frankly, are attacks on science.’ New Tony Fauci: ‘Hold my beer. I am Truth manifested in human form.’"
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Science and Tech researcher Dr. Eli David commented on the clip, writing, "From the physician who caused most harm to humanity in history."
The Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway tweeted, "This video depicts a caricature of an evil, world-destroying James Bond villain."
Conservative YouTuber Viva Frei gave his own rendition of the "Fauci Effect." "The ‘Fauci effect’ will come to be known as the phenomenon pursuant to which people who hitherto had trusted ‘science’ and ‘scientific’ institutions lose all such faith in science, scientific institutions, and ‘scientists.’"
"Actually, the ‘Fauci Effect’ refers to funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and then lying to Congress," tweeted Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
Washington Examiner columnist T. Becket Adams offered, "the ‘fauci effect’ is when grocery stores enforce one-way aisles."
"At the center of every failed public health response in the last 40 years is Dr. Fauci talking about how great he is," observed Congressman Jim Banks, R-Ind.
