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White House advisor Anthony Fauci made his final appearance in the White House briefing room before he steps down next month, which devolved into chaos as multiple reporters asked him questions in unison about the origins of COVID-19 and relevant investigations.
At one point, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre started scolding reporters who were asking questions at the same time.
“We have a process here, I’m not calling on people who yell, and you’re being disrespectful to your colleagues and you’re being disrespectful to our guests,” she told reporters in the briefing room. “I will not call on you if you yell, and also you’re taking time off the clock because Dr. Fauci has to leave in a couple of minutes.”
“You need to call people across the room! She has a valid question, she’s asked about the origin of COVID,” a reporter from Africa Today told Jean-Pierre.
Fauci answered only one of the questions, which was one about House Republicans taking the majority in Congress and possibly investigating him. Multiple GOP lawmakers have signaled they would call him to testify over the origins of the COVID-19 virus and his agency having provided funding to a third party to carry out controversial research in Wuhan, China.
The longtime federal official said that he has testified “hundreds of times” and would comply with Republicans if he is asked. Regarding questions about the origin of COVID-19, Fauci did not answer Tuesday.
Several months ago, Fauci announced he would step down as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in December. Fauci, 81, has been in charge of that agency since 1984.
