Marjorie Taylor Greene slams Fauci during hearing: "Belong in prison" (2024)

Republican Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wasted no time on Monday in grilling Dr. Anthony Fauci as part of a congressional hearing seeking to examine COVID-era policies and the origin of the virus.

Her contentious questioning of the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) drew the ire from her Democratic colleagues in the hearing and included Greene addressing Fauci as "Mr." and saying "you're not a doctor."

The hearing was announced by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic last month, reigniting a debate on how coronavirus should have been treated by the federal government and public officials as it pertains to school closures and mask wearing—and whether it's vital to understand if the virus came from a Chinese lab in Wuhan or spread other ways.

Fauci, who agreed to attend the hearing on his volition, was the main scientific face for the federal government when the pandemic erupted in the U.S. in March 2020. He participated in daily hearings alongside then-President Donald Trump and resumed his role when President Joe Biden took office.

Although he retired from the NIAID in December 2022, Fauci has routinely been a source of controversy among conservatives, including members of Congress—many of whom have questioned his motives and those of other officials in scientific and government capacities. He has also been maligned for theories that the virus did not emanate from a Wuhan lab, though the origins of the virus remain a question more than four years since lockdowns and other safety measures took hold.

Greene's five minutes of time included her immediately admonishing Fauci multiple times, holding up photos and various news outlet headlines hammering his reputation.

She questioned COVID-era rules and how much he has earned from pharmaceutical companies.

"Do you think that's appropriate? Do the American people deserve to be abused like that, Mr. Fauci?" Greene asked Fauci. "Because you're not a doctor, you're Mr. Fauci in my few minutes."

As he was about to answer, Greene interrupted, saying, "I don't need your answer."

The questioning from Greene was interrupted multiple times by objections by Democratic members of the subcommittee, issuing "points of order" based on Greene's statements.

After one objection, Greene said that Fauci "does not deserve to have a license."

Greene added: "You know what this committee should be doing? We should be recommending you to be prosecuted. We should be writing a criminal referral because you should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. You belong in prison, Dr. Fauci."

Greene at another point held up a photo of dogs and asked if testing on canines was part of the scientific method, to which Fauci responded with a quizzical look and asked what that had to do with COVID.

She never went into detail about the background of such purported experiments allegedly paid for by taxpayers.

A spokesperson for Greene told Newsweek that Greene's words speak for herself.

She also showed a photo of Fauci at a Washington Nationals baseball game, noting that he was sitting near others without a mask and not adhering to six feet of distance as was encouraged by guidance.

The dogs photo, which were also brought up by Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a New York Republican, relate to allegations against Fauci dating back to early 2020, when a group called the White Coat Waste Project said it obtained documents showing that NIAID had directed $424,455 to the University of Georgia in September 2020 to infect 28 beagles with disease-causing parasites.

The group also accused Fauci of helping fund a lab in Tunisia "that drugged beagles and locked their heads in mesh cages full of biting flies so they could eat them alive."

"White Coat Waste Project exposed how Fauci is the real-life mad scientist behind the biggest animal testing scandals in history and we're proud that our BeagleGate and Wuhan lab investigations exposing Fauci's reckless funding for wasteful and cruel animal experiments were front-and-center at today's hearing," White Coat Waste Project President Anthony Bellotti told Newsweek via email.

Democratic Representative Robert Garcia spoke after Greene, defending Fauci while chastising his Republican counterpart.

"Totally insane that Marjorie Taylor Greene would not refer to Dr. Fauci as a doctor," Garcia wrote on X. "He's one of the most brilliant medical minds in the country. She's a national embarrassment."

Fauci continued to face grilling by members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic into the afternoon.

Republican Committee Chairman Brad Wenstrup said in April that Fauci's retirement from public service "does not excuse Dr. Fauci from accountability to the American people."

Update 06/03/24, 3:02 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from the White Coat Waste Project.