Dr. Anthony Fauci on Oct. 4 shifted his position on whether Americans should gather for Christmas.
“It’s just too soon to tell,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
About 24 hours later, Fauci changed his position, claiming his remarks were misinterpreted.
“I said ‘We don’t know’ because we’ve seen slopes that went down and then came back up. The best way to assure that we’ll be in good shape as we get into the winter would be to get more and more people vaccinated. That was misinterpreted as my saying we can’t spend Christmas with our families, which was absolutely not the case,” Fauci said on CNN.
“I will be spending Christmas with my family. I encourage people, particularly the vaccinated people who are protected, to have a good, normal Christmas with your family.”
Fauci’s original remarks drew widespread pushback.
“Fauci has lost all credibility with the American people. We aren’t waiting on his permission to celebrate Christmas together,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a member of the House Republican leadership.
Even figures who have generally urged being cautious during the pandemic signaled opposition to Fauci’s position.
“Nothing is going to stop us from getting together, and we’re going to be getting together for Thanksgiving and we’re going to be getting together for Christmas,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner and now a Pfizer board member, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“I think what people need to do is judge what the prevalence is in their local community and what the risk is within their family setting.”
“I’ve lost confidence in the CDC and the FDA. And I actually believe a lot of Americans, a significant part of America, now have lost confidence in you, Dr. Fauci. Is there a point where you will say ‘I do more harm than good because people don’t listen to me anymore’ and step aside?” Hewitt said.
“No, absolutely, unequivocally no,” Fauci responded.
“The idea that people right now are not listening to what I’m saying; what I’m saying is the truth. It is a fact.”