Jesse Watters, a host of Fox News, urged a gathering of conservatives to confront Dr. Fauci, who has become a frequent critic on the political right.
Mr. Watters said in a speech that activists should ambush Dr. Fauci with questions that he deemed "the kill shot." Mr. Watters said that the filmed confrontation would have an effect. He is no longer alive. He is no longer alive. He is done!
In an interview with CNN, Dr. Fauci said that Mr. Watters should be fired on the spot.
Mr. Watters was not disciplined by Fox News. The network said in a statement that the comments were twisted completely out of context and that it was more than clear that Jesse Watters was asking hard-hitting questions to Dr. Fauci.
Conservative figures have referred to Dr. Fauci in bracingly derogatory terms for months, and the host's language was in keeping with that.
Fauci Comments: The Fox News host Jesse Watters used violent language in urging a gathering of conservatives to confront Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Three prominent Fox News hosts text MarkMeadows urging him to tell Donald Trump to try to stop the riot.
The announcement that Chris Wallace was leaving Fox News for CNN came as right-wing hosts were setting the channel's agenda.
Contributors quit the network in protest over Tucker Carlson's special.
The governor of Florida referred to Dr. Fauci as a "covid authoritarian" in a fund-raising email this week. The campaign wrote that they couldn't allow their communities to become Faucian dystopias in which people's freedoms are limited and their livelihoods are destroyed.
Cruz described Fauci as the most dangerous bureaucrat in the history of the country during a Fox News interview. On Wednesday, Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said on Fox News that the American people want safe streets, affordable gas and freedom, and that the Biden administration has given us record crime, record inflation and Dr. Fauci.
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Ted Cruz criticized Dr. Fauci on Fox News.
The Fire Fauci Act was introduced by a Georgia Republican in April and would strip Dr. Fauci of his salary. It hasn't progressed in Congress. Donald J. Trump questioned the efforts of Dr. Fauci to combat the Pandemic.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has been directed by Dr. Fauci since 1984. He has worked on many diseases, including the spread of AIDS in the 1980s. He became a household name in 2020 as a spokesman for the government. Conservatives blame Mr. Trump for their concerns about the handling of the Pandemic in part because he grew to distrust him.
In an interview with The New York Times in September, Dr. Fauci spoke about the harassment and threats that he and his family, including his children, had received from "radical extreme right individuals."
In September, Dr. Fauci said that it was all part of the intense, fiercely intense polarization in the country.
The doctor is sometimes referred to as "Lord Fauci" at Fox News. The network's highest-rated hosts often depict him as an authoritarian who is determined to strip Americans of basic freedoms. Tucker Carlson accused Dr. Fauci of spreading "authoritarian germ hysteria."
Mr. Carlson said that Mr. Fauci had decided to end Christmas in a way that contributed to more Covid-19 cases.
The Anti-Defamation League rebuked the former CBS News correspondent for comparing Dr. Fauci to the notorious Nazi doctor and murderer. Since then, she has not appeared on either Fox News or Fox Nation.
Dr. Fauci once appeared on Fox News to discuss the government response to the swine flu. He has not been seen on the network in a while, but he did appear with Neil Cavuto on December 3.
Mr. Watters has continued with his job since the uproar over his comments. He guest-hosted Mr. Carlson's show on Wednesday and referred to Dr. Fauci as his holiness.
The swine flu has had an impact on Mr. Watters and his fellow stars of the Fox News afternoon talk show. The show was taped from different locations on Wednesday, rather than in the same New York studio, because of the Omicron variant of the coronaviruses, which prompted Fox News to declare its Manhattan office off limits to unvaccinated employees.
The network had previously allowed those employees to work if they tested negative. Fox News said the change was due to new city requirements.
The reporting was contributed by Sheryl Gay Stolberg.
