Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers consider why Trump, GOP, Fox News are gunning for Fauci

Late night hosts on the Trumpists gunning for Fauci

(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Night, The Daily Show)

last updated 14 May 2020

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned about opening the country too soon in Senate testimony Tuesday, and Republicans weren't having it, Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "Republicans are desperate to reopen the economy because if they don't, they'll have to do the unthinkable: Give money to someone other than rich people. And they're sick of Dr. Fauci reminding them of how many people will get sick." Thanks to "all the mixed messages," millions more people are "venturing out," so "the most widely cited coronavirus model now predicts 147,000 U.S. deaths by August," he said. And President Trump knows the dangers: "A leaked White House coronavirus task force report shows infectious disease spiking more than 1,000 percent in some rural areas."

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"Fauci warned Congress about the dangers of opening things up too soon, and today he got a shout-out from the always-incisive Brian Kilmeade on Fox & Friends," Jimmy Kimmel said. "For whatever reason, some of these dopes at Fox News are treating Dr. Fauci like he's an enemy in this." Seriously, "anyone trusting Fox News over doctors right now should only be allowed to see Tucker Carlson when their stool comes out red," he said. "But the president, Fox News viewer No. 1, now says he disagrees with Dr. Fauci, too."

"Now, if you don't live your life in Fox world, it's easy to forget how influential Fox News actually is," The Daily Show's Trevor Noah said. "The people protesting stay-at-home orders, saying experts like Dr. Fauci should be fired, saying the coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab to destroy America (but also China, for some reason) — well, a lot of that stuff comes from Fox." Seriously, he said, "Fox News is so paranoid, it's like the entire network took a bad edible that's been kicking in for, like, 25 years."

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"The president is reeling politically from his deadly incompetence during the coronavirus pandemic, and now he and his sycophants on state TV are trying to distract from that by obsessively spinning wild conspiracy theories about Barack Obama," Late Night's Seth Meyers sighed. And on top of everything else, "just yesterday, the president's lawyers were arguing that he is above the law in front of a Supreme Court that includes four conservative justices appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.