Ted Cruz Recalls Time Dr. Fauci Closed Gyms, Bars, Restaurants While Dancing On Puppy Graves

Ted Cruz is a liar, btw.

The part-time senator from Texas and professional Twitter troll Ted Cruz shared this vile nonsense Friday:  "It’s been 3 years since a smug and gleeful Anthony Fauci casually called to shut down bars, restaurants, and gyms. It’s abundantly clear: Fauci is the most destructive bureaucrat in American history. #Verdict ."

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He followed his libel tweet with a pitch for his podcast (NO LINK)!

PREVIOUSLY:

 Dr. Fauci Acting Like He Didn't Even Murder Your Kids With Masks. Rude! 

 Dr. Fauci Thinks He’s Out, But Republicans Are Gonna Pull Him Back in 

However, Cruz is not alone in his revisionist history. Most Republicans want to pretend that Dr. Fauci was president in 2020 and not Donald Trump, and while honestly that would rank as one of my top five genie wishes, it wasn't reality. They've blamed Dr. Fauci for shutting down in-person schooling and imprisoning parents with their own children for more than a year, but it was principals, school superintendents, and governors (both Democrats and Republicans) who made this (correct) call based on the best information we had at the time.

Yes, Dr. Fauci spent most of 2020 advising people to avoid gyms, bars, and restaurants. However, he wasn't "gleeful" about it, like some twisted sadist. When a doctor tells a patient they have to cut out red meat and alcohol to avoid having another heart attack, we can safely assume this isn't fun for them. Cruz also demonstrates his own lack of self-awareness when he dares call anyone else "smug."

 From a September 2020 Health.com article:  

Dr. Fauci explained that people tend to breathe heavily in gyms, expelling more potentially contaminated droplets into a contained space with no outside air filtering in. Also, gym equipment is shared, and the communal surfaces can harbor germs.

[...]

The CDC said 8.5% of people whose tests came back positive had been to a bar in the previous two weeks, while 5% of people with negative test results had. "You've got to look very carefully at things like bars, [which] are a really important place of spreading of infection. There's no doubt about that," Dr. Fauci said. "And that becomes particularly important if you happen to be in an area where there's a high degree of community spread.”

The CDC report found that 40.9% of people diagnosed with COVID-19 had dined out in the past two weeks, compared to only 27.7% of people who tested negative. "When you have restaurants indoors in a situation where you have a high degree of infection in the community, you're not wearing masks, that's a problem," Dr. Fauci explained in the interview.

Journalists often tighten and clean up quotes for clarity, but they probably would've mentioned it if Dr. Fauci had cackled maniacally during these interviews. He didn't even shout "CLOSE ALL BARS, RESTAURANTS, AND GYMS!" (as he lacked the authority to do so). He just pointed out why — months before we had a vaccine — this was risky behavior.

When Dr. Fauci appeared on the Sunday shows on March 15, 2020, he said he'd “like to see a dramatic diminution of the personal interaction that we see” in restaurants and bars.

“We need to be very serious about – for a while, life is not going to be the way it used to be in the United States,” he said, while suppressing his diabolical laughter. “We have to just accept that if we want to do what’s best for the American public.” This was how a real US president should have addressed the public instead of promising COVID-19 would magically "disappear." 

No smugness, not even one of the better episodes of "Glee" — this was just a medical expert doing his best to keep people alive during a pandemic.

As another Doctor I admire once told the Daleks, Ted Cruz keeps finding new ways to make me sick.

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