In Dr. Anthony Fauci’s America, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would be above the law.
Fauci implied as much last week when he went on television and argued, according to the Daily Wire, that the federal court that recently put an end to the CDC’s public transportation COVID mask mandate should not have had the authority to do so.
“Not . . . a court issue”
Fauci made the argument Thursday during an appearance on CNN+’s The Source with Kasie Hunt.
Referring to the public transportation mask mandate, Fauci said:
[T]hose types of things really are the purview of the CDC. This is a public health issue, and for a court to come in — and if you look at the rationale for that, it really was not particularly firm — and we are concerned about that, about courts getting involved in things that are unequivocally public health decisions. I mean, this is a CDC issue. It should not have been a court issue.
Fauci, here, argued that the CDC had every right to extend the mandate, as it did, because of the recent rise in COVID cases. And, he added that a court should not have been able to interfere with that decision.
“So, for a court to come in and interfere in that is really unfortunate,” Fauci said. “It’s unfortunate because it’s against public health principles, number one. And number two, it’s because that’s no place for the courts to do that.”
“This is a CDC decision, and that’s very bad precedent when you have courts making a decision, and looking at what the basis of the decision was, it was not sound,” he added.
The White House response
Fauci received some fairly strong criticism for his argument that the CDC ought to be above the law. He received so much criticism, in fact, that the White House was forced to step in and do some damage control.
“Obviously, the judiciary has an important role to play,” White House COVID Coordinator Ashish Jha said on Sunday.
“What you heard out of the administration, out of the Department of Justice, is the assessment that this is an incorrect decision and the DOJ is now appealing this decision,” Ashish added.
That’s a fairly direct contradiction of Fauci by the White House, which is rare.
Fauci has not walked back his statement.
