US TV host Megyn Kelly launched a foul-mouthed broadside at Dr Anthony Fauci yesterday, insisting that he turn up on Capitol Hill to face a grilling from Republicans.
"F*** you, Dr Fauci," the former Fox News anchor said as she castigated the United States' top infectious disease expert on the latest episode of The Megyn Kelly Show podcast.
Kelly took issue with Fauci over his equivocal response to demands from Republican lawmakers that he appear before them to answer questions over his handling of the Covid pandemic.
Fauci told CNN that he "certainly would consider" turning up if served with a subpoena.
During her opening monologue, Kelly said that Fauci sounds "like he's been invited to afternoon tea at one of our houses".
" 'I will consider it. I'll consider it'," Kelly said, mocking the veteran health boss.
She continued her imitation, saying: " 'Only if it's oversight because what I experienced was personal attacks'," before exclaiming: "F*** you, Dr Fauci!
Megyn Kelly was not amused.
"You don't get to say whether you go," she continued. "You get a congressional subpoena, you show up, or you get the Steve Bannon treatment."
Kelly's comments come as the Republican Party is expected to retake the House of Representatives after November's midterm elections.
"Dr Fauci lost the trust of the American people when his guidance unnecessarily kept schools closed and businesses shut while obscuring questions about his knowledge on the origins of Covid. He owes the American people answers. A @HouseGOP majority will hold him accountable," House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted.
Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert who became a household name — and the subject of partisan attacks — during the Covid-19 pandemic, announced earlier this week that he will leave the federal government in December after more than five decades.
His decision to leave was criticised by many on the US right.
"Dr Fauci clearly knows the Red Tsunami is coming this November which is why he is retiring before Republicans gain control of the House," House Republican Conference chair Elise Stefanik said in a statement.
"Dr Fauci, the highest paid US government official who has been in his appointed bureaucratic position since before I was born, is an example of an unelected Washington bureaucrat who was given far too much power throughout his career and caused irreparable harm to the American people," she added.
While the Covid-19 pandemic introduced him to millions of Americans, he's given straight-talk to the nation about numerous outbreaks including HIV/Aids, SARS, pandemic flu, Ebola and the 2001 anthrax attacks.
"I've gone into this campus and into the labs and into the hospital every day, including most weekends, for 54 years. The idea of walking away from it obviously is bittersweet," Fauci told The Associated Press.
In announcing his departure, the 81-year-old Fauci called his roles "the honour of a lifetime" but said it was time "to pursue the next chapter of my career".
Known for his candour and for the ability to translate complex medical information into everyday language, Fauci has been a key adviser to seven presidents starting with Ronald Reagan.
Dr Anthony Fauci announced this week that he was leaving the federal government. Photo / AP
Fauci became the face of the government response to Covid-19 as it hit in early 2020, with frequent appearances on television news and at daily press conferences with White House officials, including then-President Donald Trump. But as the pandemic deepened, Fauci fell out of favour with Trump when his urgings of continued public caution clashed with the former president's desire to return to normalcy and to promote unproven treatments for the virus.
Fauci found himself marginalised by the Trump administration, but he continued to speak out publicly in media interviews, advocating social distancing and masks in public settings before the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines.
He was also the subject of political attacks and death threats and was given a security detail for his protection.
When Joe Biden won the White House, he asked Fauci to stay on in his administration in an elevated capacity.
"I've been able to call him at any hour of the day for his advice," Biden said in a statement.
"Whether you've met him personally or not, he has touched all Americans' lives with his work. I extend my deepest thanks for his public service. The United States of America is stronger, more resilient, and healthier because of him."
