Fox News’ Chris Wallace defends Fauci against ‘highly political’ attacks; Psaki says Biden won’t fire

Fox News host Chris Wallace defended Dr. Anthony Fauci from “highly political” attacks after thousands of his emails surfaced that dealt with the coronavirus and what he allegedly knew about the origins of COVID-19.

Wallace vigorously claimed on the air Friday that there is no actual “smoking gun” in the emails. Although he works for conservative outlet Fox News, Wallace is a Democrat who tends to take the liberal viewpoint on most issues. He claimed to have read through the emails and the corresponding reports and sees no evidence of fraud, lying, or wrongdoing on Fauci’s part.

The emails were obtained by BuzzFeed News through a Freedom of Information Act request. They deal with the pandemic, vaccines, masks, gain-of-function, and the lab leak theory among other issues. Critics contend that they show that Fauci knew that the virus could have leaked from the Wuhan lab and that gain-of-function experiments were ongoing, upping the chances for human infection. Fauci has only recently about-faced and acknowledged the virus could have come from the lab. For most of the pandemic, he claimed that was not possible.

Wallace admonished people to “take the politics out of this.” He told his Fox News colleague John Roberts while trying to straddle the political divide: “When Donald Trump — back when he was president — suggested that China may have played a role in it, that it wasn’t a naturally occurring virus, I think there was a knee-jerk reaction from some Democrats, from some people in the media, to say, ‘Well, if Trump says this is a possibility, it can’t be a possibility.’”

(Video Credit: Fox News)

“We absolutely need to find out what the basis for the origins of COVID are,” he declared.

Wallace’s stance aligns with White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s comments concerning the issue on Friday. Fox News’s Peter Doocy asked her about Fauci’s emails and if she thinks “the attacks are political.” He also asked if President Biden would fire Fauci and Psaki adamantly said, “No.”

“He’s overseen management of multiple global health crises, and attacks launched on him are certainly something we wouldn’t stand by,” Psaki remarked. “I understand there’s interest in the emails. He’s answered a lot of questions on the emails, I don’t think I’m gonna have much more to add on them from here.”

“The president and the administration feel that Dr. Fauci has played an incredible role in getting the pandemic under control, being a voice to the public throughout the course of this pandemic,” Psaki also told reporters. “And, again, I would reiterate a lot of these emails are from 17 months ago or more, certainly predating this administration, but some time ago in — as we look to history.”

(Video Credit: Reuters)

The president is standing by Fauci. “Yes, I’m very confident in Dr. Fauci,” Biden told the press in Delaware after making remarks on the economy.

Meanwhile, Wallace concluded his interview by saying: “I’ve read reports and read through a number of the e-mails. There’s no smoking gun there that indicates that Fauci had any reason to believe this had came from… the Wuhan virology laboratory.”

I’ll answer the question, even though Jen Psaki wouldn’t — this is highly political. I can promise you. You’re seeing it as a major talking point from Republicans. I think that when Donald Trump speaks tomorrow night in North Carolina, you’re going to see him go after Fauci,” the host of “Fox News Sunday” continued. “Let’s just remember. Anthony Fauci has been on the firing lines trying to protect Americans from public health issues since the mid-80s with AIDS. And before we start calling for his head, this guy who’s been a devoted public servant for 40 years, maybe we ought to slow down just a little bit.”

A number of Republicans including Senator Rand Paul and Senator Josh Hawley are calling for Fauci to resign or be fired.

Former President Trump also slammed Fauci and China. “Now everyone, even the so-called ‘enemy,’ are beginning to say that President Trump was right about the China Virus coming from the Wuhan Lab,” Trump proclaimed in a statement Thursday. “The correspondence between Dr. Fauci and China speaks too loudly for anyone to ignore. China should pay Ten Trillion Dollars to America, and the World, for the death and destruction they have caused!”

Firing Fauci is gaining traction:

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