Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden's chief medical adviser, said "political ideology" is the reason why it has taken such a long time to reopen the economy from Covid-19-related lockdowns, saying the medical experts are not at fault.
Speaking at the National League of Cities' Congressional City Conference on Monday, Fauci said in all his years of working in infectious diseases, "I have never seen a situation that even came close to this with regard to divisiveness over ideology, political ideology, that actually swept over into the issue of public health where people — as you mentioned correctly in your statement and your question — the health officials who pushed for commonsense, well-accepted public health measure of wearing masks, physical distancing, avoiding congregate settings, including indoor, are actually looked upon as the enemy.
"The enemy of getting the economy open, the enemy of getting people’s jobs back — when, in fact, the common enemy is the virus, not the health officials who are trying to do as best as they can to get this country out of this pandemic grip that we’re in," he said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: "Of all of the pandemic outbreaks that I have had to deal with...I have never seen a situation that even came close to this with regard to divisiveness over ideology – political ideology – that actually swept over into the issue of public health." #NLCCCC pic.twitter.com/BgFP8Om2Q9
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 8, 2021
There was a lot done by those in charge that have turned people off from listening to the "experts," such as when lockdowns applied to only certain types of businesses. People could fly across the country sitting next to someone, but indoor dining was banned, with states like California even banning outdoor dining for some time. Schools in some states have been all virtual despite the science showing it is safe for students and teachers to go back to in-person learning.
One of the highest forms of hypocrisy came in the form of politicians, and even some medical professionals, who came out in support of people gathering in large groups to partake in Black Lives Matter protests, many of which turned into riots.
